Silver Lining
by xXForeverInvisibleXx
Summary: After a photoshoot, things have taken the uphill for Athena, Anna, Maria and Neni. Will they find happiness as they join our boys on the tour? Or will there be obstacles in their way? Read and find out! ;)
1. Big Time Photoshoot

_When I lose my mind, when I'm a total mess  
I stop as you still think I'm the best  
And I love you even when you're a wreck  
Call me crazy, call me a fool  
Call me crazy, baby it's true  
But I'm crazy 'bout you_

Setting up for a new photo-shoot is _not_ an easy job, as people might think. It takes a lot of planning ahead, getting the clothes ready, checking the light about a million times, setting up the props and whatnot, picking up the theme, checking the lenses of the camera another million times, aligning my brushes and makeup on the table to be ready. It would be chaotic if Maria wasn't there to organize us.

My best friend, Athena, is one of the best photographers in Los Angeles. She was worked so far with everyone, from Lady Gaga and JLo to Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj. She started off as a minor photographer a couple of years back for the _Rolling Stones _magazine, but then escaladed quickly when her photographs became a huge hit. She now does photo-shoots with various artists and then sells them to magazines. The photos today would go to _People_ magazine. She was one crazy tiny little thing, with wild curly blond hair and dark brown eyes. She could never stay at one place. Usually, during a photo-shoot she wheezed around the models, giving them instructions and snapping a lot of photos.

Maria-Louisa and Athena had been friends since High School. They went to LA together soon after they graduated and never looked back. She was a petite Latina, with long dark brown wavy hair and brown eyes. We called her our "sweet little teddy bear" ever since High School and it kind of stuck ever since. She became Athena's personal assistant shortly after Athena became a freelance photographer. She kept us organized and usually prevented us from making a fool out of ourselves most of the time, unless she was in on it. But she had a temper and we usually avoided ticking her off.

Anna was our stylist. She knew everything there was to know about fashion and she was the one who actually picked the theme of the photo-shoot depending on what style she thought suited the models best. She kept us up to date with fashion, even picking out our own clothes occasionally. She, too, was petite, with shoulder-length brown hair and warm brown eyes, which she made me line with black every morning and make even cat-eye shapes with her liner. Her makeup was always kept classy, with lots of mascara and red lipstick, which I always happily provided for her. She was sweet and a really quiet girl, a little bit reserved, but she had her crazy side too.

As for me, I was the makeup artist and hair stylist. Yeah, sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it? It was actually a lot of work and required a lot of equipment. I had eye shadows in every color and tone existing, all different kinds of mascara, all colors of eyeliner, both pencil and liquid and all colors imaginable on lipsticks and such. Also foundations in every skin tone available, concealers and powders and lots of blushes. And a rather huge collection of brushes to go with that. Also, hair products, straightening and curling irons, and lots of hair brushes. And it was hard sometimes too, because some of the artists could be real divas and wouldn't let me near their precious hair or face. It became really hard for me then to keep my cool, being short-tempered.

"Neni! Is everything set up?" Maria popped her head in the doorway of the small room I used as my station. "Anna says that she can't find the black leather jacket she had left out last night. Have you seen it?"

"On the chair, under the pile of shirts she dumped there also last night" I called after her, pulling out several foundations to test out on my wrist, in case any of it irritated the skin or something. "Hey, before you go tell her, who are we taking photos of today?"

"I don't know. Athena wouldn't tell me. It's some boy band" she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly before rushing off to find Anna.

I took a long look at myself in the mirror, fixing my fringe so that it would fall over the left side of my face better. I hadn't put on any makeup today and was still in an old pair of faded blue jeans and a white t-shirt, trying to set up. I had fixed the lighting first thing when I woke up and fixed the balcony of the apartment for the photo-shoot, putting out the lounge chairs and table. Athena wanted them to look casual, as if they were having a usual day relaxing.

I turned on the stereo as I went over to the walk-in closet where I heard Anna and Maria talking about something. "Blow Your Speakers" by Big Time Rush was the first song that popped up and I danced to the beat as I walked over to them and sat in the only spare space available on the beige loveseat we had set up in there in front of the mirror.

"What are we talking about?" I asked cheerfully, trying not to make the clothes piled on the back of the loveseat fall down.

"The boy band that's coming over for the photo-shoot. I sure hope they're not divas. Athena gave me their sizes a while back so I can have clothes ready and I laid out a couple of outfits in case they don't like the original ones I picked out" she sighed heavily and motioned to four sections of hangers, with four outfits on each. "Remember that fiasco last time? She didn't like _any _of it and I had to go over the clothes again and again until I could please her Highness"

"Hey, you think _you_ had it bad! I had to sit there for an hour, begging her to let me get started on her hair and makeup before the light was gone and we didn't make it then and we had to deal with an upset Athena afterwards" I rolled my eyes at the memory of our last photo-shoot.

"She completely rolled us out of schedule too" Maria sighed dramatically, checking her watch again. "We have to get moving if we want to be ready on time. ATHENA!"

And with that she was out the door, rushing away to find our photographer. I sighed heavily and grabbed a Hanna hat on my way out, pulling it on as I went back to where I had set up my things. I grabbed the makeup remover and put it aside for later, just so I wouldn't have to dig up through my bags a second time. I hummed and danced along to the songs playing and I didn't notice that Athena had brought in her models until she had brought them over to get the introductions done.

"Neni is our makeup artist and hair stylist. Don't worry, James, she won't ruin your hair; she's an expert in hair dressing" I heard her say as she stopped in front of the door. "Neni, this is James, Kendall, Logan and Carlos. They're Big Time Rush"

"Uh, no shit, Sherlock" I mumbled, looking up at my favorite boy band through wide eyes.

Big Time Rush had been, and still is, our favorite boy band through High School. I couldn't even begin to describe how obsessed we were with them. Athena had the hugest of crushes on Kendall. She had spent hours fangirling about how hot he was and how he had the most amazing green eyes ever. Anna's obsession was Logan and Maria's was James and they had spent countless hours talking all about how perfect they were and how they had wanted to meet them one day. As for me; well, let's just say that I had kept a photo of Carlos on the wall next to my bed throughout school and daydreamed about him quite a lot.

"Nice to meet you all" I said, leaning against the doorframe as I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans.

Maria waved at me from behind the boys and did a heart shape with her hands while grinning like a maniac. Yeah, I wanted to do that too, only when they weren't looking. She stared at James all the way. This was a dream come true for all of us. I bit my lip and tried to resist the urge to laugh. I saw Carlos watching me curiously with a small smile.

As Athena proceeded to take them to the changing rooms, I followed behind them just so I could watch Anna's reaction when she saw Logan. I felt myself blush when I caught Carlos looking back at me from over his shoulder. Maria grabbed my hand and squeezed my fingers in excitement as she tried real hard not to squeal like a little girl. I started fanning myself with my hand because I felt like my face was getting a little bit too hot.

Anna was shocked when she was introduced to the boys. She shot Athena an accusatory look for not having forewarned her beforehand and straightened her short black dress self-consciously, though she already looked stunning. Athena was grinning like a maniac to all of us, when she wasn't busy staring at Kendall that is.

"Well, I'll let you get dressed. Behave!" Athena called with a giggle as she dragged me and Maria away from the changing rooms to give them some privacy.

"Why _the hell_ didn't you tell us Big Time Rush was going to be here?" I whispered, pulling them both in my station and turning up the music. "You could've at least warned me to wear something better than this!"

"You look just fine! Carlos was staring either way" Athena giggled. "Oh, my, did you _see_ Kendall? I swear he gets hotter every year that passes"

"And James?! Oh, my, he's like a God! Dios míos!" Maria started fanning herself with her hand. "Oh, Anna is very lucky! She's in the same room they're changing clothes in"

"Okay, okay, I think we all need to cool down before the studio catches on fire. Then it's ciao Big Time Rush and ciao us!" I rolled my eyes and brought us all a glass of cold water. "Now, pull yourselves together women! We are professionals. So, we better act like it!"

I took a deep breath as Anna came squealing in the room. She was in full fan-girl mode, jumping up and down and gushing about how perfect they were and how they hadn't caused trouble at all. And then she started talking about how hot Logan looked in the white button down shirt and black jeans she had given him to wear. I didn't even ask to know what she gave Carlos. I needed to keep my head straight.

"Hey, um, I'm not sure if this fits" an awkward-looking James walked in the doorway, examining the tight black t-shirt he was wearing.

We _all_ took a moment to appreciate the view. I mean, he was very obviously working out and it showed. His abs were amazing as they black fabric stretched over them. Then, I averted my eyes, because, well, my best friend was interested in that guy and we really, really shouldn't be staring. And then Kendall walked in, dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt that was really tight on him too and I thought I heard Athena squeaked. But then Carlos walked in and my attention was immediately diverted to him.

Carlos Pena dressed in grey jeans and a blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up was a sight to behold. I bit my lip and then kicked the girls out, claiming that I had to get them ready before the light was gone.

"Lies! You just want them all for yourself" Maria teased as she walked out of the door.

"Yeah, yeah. _Be_ jealous, baby" I threw a rag at her as she went and I heard her giggling with the others in the hall.

I turned to the awkward looking boys and grabbed a hair gel. I looked at them with a smiling as they fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Who's going first, boys?" I asked, motioning at the chair set in front of the mirror. "Logan?"

"Sure, I guess" he sat down and got comfortable to let me work.

I fixed his hair using a lot of hair gel. Seriously, they needed it to stay up and then I put about a ton of hairspray to make sure that not even a hair was out of place. Kendall was next and his hair didn't need a lot of work. Just a bit of foam to mess them up a little and he was gone. James wouldn't let me touch his hair at first and it took about five minutes of sweet-talking to get him to relax and let me work. I didn't do much on him either, they were already perfect. I made Carlos' hair into spikes, just like I loved them, but of course I didn't tell him that. Since neither of them needed makeup or anything, I led them out in the balcony and helped Athena pose them appropriately.

She was a mini tornado as she waltzed around, taking photos from various angles. She had them looking away, smiling at the camera, looking serious, talking with each other… at some point she made them hold bottles of beer and pretend they were making a toast towards the camera. The sun was shining bright outside and the photos on the balcony were coming out fine.

"They are way hotter up close" Anna muttered as we watched the shooting. "Logan is gorgeous"

"And he hasn't taken his eyes off you either" I teased her, tickling her side as I went past her.

"And Carlos didn't take his eyes off _you_" Maria whispered and giggled. "They're all staring at you"

"Yeah, like James is any different" Anna said, turning her back to them briefly so they wouldn't make out what we were saying.

"He's staring too, my _sweet little teddy bear_" I teased her and we all giggled.

She blushed, but laughed anyways. Athena turned around and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at us and the guys exchanged a smile. Thank God she was able to get a photo of the moment. They were truly handsome when they smiled.

"I think we're done!" Athena asked after an hour after snapping multiple more photos.

"Aww" I pouted. "Really?"

"Yeah, I know, but don't worry. Athena says she has a surprise for us later and I hope for her own good that it's got something to do with them" Maria whispered as we walked back to my station where we'd sit a bit until they left.

Anna took them back to the changing rooms, claiming that they had to give her the clothes right away so she could send them to the dry cleaner immediately. Yeah, right, she just wanted an excuse to stare at Logan a bit more. I sighed and started putting away my stuff, sorting them through the bags.

"Hey, um, Maria, is it? Athena is looking for you" we both snapped our heads to the door when we heard Carlos's voice.

I felt my cheeks heat up as he stared at me with those lovely brown eyes of his. He smiled shyly and I smiled back at him, hiding behind my fringe just slightly. Maria left quickly to go find Athena, leaving us alone.

"So, uh, is your friend always this crazy when taking pictures?" he asked awkwardly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, you could say that. She's a mini typhoon really" I chuckled, picking up a rag to clean up the vanity table.

"So, um, we have a concert in a couple of days, here in LA. I'm not sure if your friend told you, but you're all invited and we've given you backstage passes too. We're hoping that maybe she could take photos of the concert?" he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll love to. We'll all be there, probably" I said with a slight smile.

"Really?! Um, well, see you there, then" he looked over his shoulders. "I gotta run. See you later, _Neni_"

And when he left, I was finally able to breathe. I collapsed on a chair and started fanning myself with my hands. Minutes later a flushed Maria entered the room and sat on the table, also fanning herself.

"We're going to their concert" she said, as if she couldn't believe it.

"I know"

"Oh, my GOD!" she squealed. "We're _finally_ going to see a Big Time Rush concert _and_ we have backstage passes"

"OH MY GOD!" a fangirling Anna came waltzing in the room. "Did you hear the good news? Oh, my I can't believe it!"

"I know!"

We started dancing around the small room, singing "Elevate" at the top of our lungs and minutes later, Athena walked in and joined the fun. We collapsed on the floor, laughing and chatting animatedly about the concert. We were all very excited. Personally, I couldn't wait to see Carlos again. And from the smiles on the girls' faces, they couldn't wait either…


	2. Dream Come True

We were more than excited that Saturday night. We spend hours in our rooms, doing our hair and makeup and trying to look for something to wear. We finally ended up dressing up in skinny blue jeans, black All-Stars and our customized t-shirt that read "I LOVE BTR", with all the bracelets we could find that were Big Time Rush-related. The girls let their hair down and straightened them, while I made mine spiky and straightened my fringe. The makeup was left to me and I had enough time to make everyone else's besides mine. I ended up quickly applying my eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss in the car.

Athena had brought her favorite camera with her and snapped countless photos while we waited to get in the arena. There were hundreds of screaming Rushers around us, some of them wearing bracelets similar to ours and were holding signs that said things like "WE LOVE BIG TIME RUSH", "BIG TIME RUSHERS" and "ROLL YOUR WINDOWS DOWN". It was like a huge festival, really. We joked and snapped more photos as we were lead inside and as close to the stage as we could. The anticipation was pulsing in the air around us and the noise from the screaming fans was enough to blow our eardrums.

And then the music started. A scream echoed through the arena as we all screamed "ELEVATE A LITTLE HIGHER!". The camera went nuts as the guys broke through and started the show with a bang. We went from "Elevate", to "Windows Down", then "Blow Your Speakers", "Big Time Rush" and "This is our someday". Dancing, singing, we were all in the party mood they had put us in and from where we were we could see the stage clearly. I caught the guys glancing towards us countless times and smiled at Carlos each time. He was so cute.

Then, they decided to lower the tempo just a bit and started singing "All over again". It was one of my favorite songs. Maria and I swayed to the beat, singing along. _It's like I'm falling in love all over again for the first time and I know that it feels right. I think I'm falling in love all over again. Love at first sight, do you know how I feel?_

Then it was time for "Worldwide". It was no shock for me when James pulled Maria on the stage, but it sure was a shock for her. Kendall hauled Athena on stage too, and Logan extended his hand out to Anna. Yeah, it didn't take a genius to know that _of course_ she'd go. I was so happy for them! And I was shocked when Carlos took my arm and pulled me there too. I sat on the last stool on the left, just as the intro for the song started. Maria's eyes welled up with tears as they started singing.

Since we'd been in High School she's been talking about wanting to be a Worldwide girl. She loved the song, knew the lyrics and she sang it often back then. This was really a dream come true for her. She took my hand subtly and squeezed my fingers. I smiled reassuringly at her and the other girls. Athena had a hard time containing herself on the stool. Once, she told us that if we were ever going to be Worldwide girls, she'd jump up and kiss Kendall. She was crazy enough to do it; that much I knew.

_Paris, London, Tokyo  
There's just one thing that I gotta do  
Hello, tuck you in every night on the phone  
Hello, tuck you in every night  
And I can hardly take another goodbye  
Baby, it won't be long  
You're the one that I'm waiting on  
Hello, tuck you in every night on the phone, whoa  
Girl I'll be thinking about you worldwide, worldwide, worldwide _

And then there were no screaming girls down below, there was no concert. Nothing mattered except those four amazing boys singing the most romantic of songs to _us_. I nibbled on my lower lip nervously, watching Carlos move on the stage while singing. My eyes welled up too and so did my friends' eyes. Really, we were so close to crying it was surreal.

When the song was done, we were about to go back to our places, but the security led us backstage. We had an even better view of the guys from there and Athena went nuts with taking photos of them. It's a miracle the camera's memory card didn't burst or something. I put my arm around Maria's shoulder and we danced to the next songs. We sang along and danced until the show was over, a little after midnight. The last song was a cover of Ed Sheeran's "The A Team". It had me crying because it was one of my favorite songs. I was grateful that I didn't have much makeup on and the little that _I did_ have on was waterproof or else I might've found myself with a face smudged all over with runny mascara and eyeliner.

When they came back, we clapped along with the fans outside. Athena started snapping photos of us as we hugged and congratulated the guys for the most amazing show ever. At some point the flash directed at me talking with Carlos startled me. I had just begun to tell him how great they were and how much we enjoyed the show, when Athena suddenly decided to snap a photo of us. James was already leading Maria away, followed closely by Logan and Anna.

"Shall we?" Carlos smiled and offered me his arm, like a true gentleman.

I giggled before lining my arm through his. He led me to the back, where their dressing rooms were. They called out "Thanks" and "Great job" to various members of the staff there, smiling big. They were all sweaty and all from dancing and singing their butts off and couldn't wait to change out of their clothes. They left us alone in the main area, sitting on the couches to wait for them.

"This was seriously the best night of my life!" Maria was really close to fangirling right now. "I can't believe it! I was a Worldwide girl!"

"I know, sweetie, we were there" I giggled. "Truly, it was amazing. The last song, especially"

"Which was it? I don't know that song" Athena said, looking up from her camera.

"Ed Sheeran's _The A Team_" I said, picking up a guitar that was laying around.

I hadn't played in almost two years. I was a bit rusty, but my fingers found the correct chords a few minutes later and before you knew it, we were all singing "If I Ruled The World" by _Big Time Rush_ in Big Time Rush's dressing rooms. Yeah, we're crazy and we know it. We stopped singing when they came back though, maybe a little too abruptly because they looked startled.

"We didn't mean to make you stop" Kendall took a seat next to Athena. "That was pretty good"

"Yeah, we don't have pretty girls singing in our dressing rooms every day" James winked at Maria.

I wanted to roll my eyes at them, especially when they started to giggle. I strummed the guitar quietly, listening to the playful banter of the boys and the occasional input of the girls to the general conversation. Athena was showing the photos she took to Kendall and Carlos, occasionally deleting one because it wasn't good enough. Logan was in deep discussion with Anna on one corner of the couch and James and Maria really seemed into their playful fooling around.

Suddenly, she looked up, just as I started playing a new song. I was so startled, my fingers hit a _seriously_ wrong note and it sounded awful. I cringed and quickly apologized.

"Rebelde Way?" Maria asked, scooting a little closer to where I was.

"Sera de dios, mi amor" I winked at her and took the song from the start.

"Que?" Carlos asked, looking a bit surprised. "You speak Spanish?"

"Just a bit" I shrugged my shoulder. "Our sweet little teddy bear's teaching me"

"_Sweet little teddy bear_?" James repeated with a smile.

"It's a High School nickname" Anna giggled. "Athena came up with it one day and we sort of picked it up. It's stuck with her ever since"

"Well, I think it's sweet, _sweet little teddy bear_" James put his arm around Maria's shoulders.

Her cheeks took a deep red color, but otherwise didn't protest when he called her that. She usually hated it when we called her by her nickname, but I guess when James Maslow says it's cute she doesn't really mind. She smiled shyly up at him and this time, I _did_ roll my eyes. They were so cute.

"How much Spanish do you know?" Carlos asked, coming to sit next to me on the loveseat.

"Um… Me llamo Neni, tengo 20 anos, me gusta la pizza, no me gusta les gatos" I looked over at Maria. Did I get everything right?"

"Uh, yeah" she said absent-mindedly, still staring at James.

"You don't like cats?" he asked with a twinge of humor in his voice.

"Nah, I'm more of a dog person" I smiled shyly while strumming the guitar again. "I had a dog a couple years back, Romeo. But he stayed back home with my mom"

"I have a dog of my own" he said, taking the guitar from me and setting it aside. "Sydney"

"Yeah, I know. I've seen a lot of photos of the two of you. She's adorable" I said.

We talked about pets for a little but then quieted down to watch the other three couples. Maria and James were cuddling on the couch next to us and talking quietly about something, Athena and Kendall were still browsing through her photos, searching for the funniest ones and making ridiculous comments about each one and Anna and Logan were standing in front of his wardrobe and it looked like she was giving him fashion tips. I wanted to laugh at that.

"It's pretty strange seeing Logan actually talking with a girl" Carlos noted. "He's usually really shy and he takes a lot of time to gather the courage to talk to anyone"

"Maybe it just takes the right girl" I said, smiling at Anna when she turned around. "And Anna looks pretty smitten with him too"

"James with Maria, Kendall with Athena" he mused. "Leaves you and I together"

"Is that a problem with you?" I asked, frowning in confusion.

"No, not at all. I kind of like your company. I mean you don't chatter endlessly about clothes and shoes and nails like other girls. It's refreshing" he shrugged.

"Well, I take that as a compliment, though I don't think I've been called _refreshing_ before" I said teasingly.

"Well, it was _meant_ to be a compliment. I haven't had a normal conversation with a girl without her screaming in my face or rambling nervously and going on and on" he sighed dramatically, but he had a big smile on his face.

He was so cute. I giggled and hid behind my fringe.

"I don't know about you, but I'd like to see you again. And not in concerts and such" he said quietly, looking at me intensely. "Can I have your phone number?"

"Um, yeah, sure" I handed him my phone so he could write his and I took his iPhone to write my phone number on it.

I gave it back to him and he snapped a photo of me on his phone. I stared at him with wide eyes.

"No, no, no! Never take a photo of me! Your phone might stop working now! Delete it; immediately!" I said, reaching to grab his phone and delete the horrendous photo of me that he snapped.

"What? No way!" he laughed and extended his arm upwards so that the phone was way out of my reach.

"Carlos! Delete the photo!" I insisted, standing up to grab it.

He stood up from his seat and ran behind the couch. I narrowed my eyes at him and ran after him to get his phone. The chance soon turned playful as he ducked and ran around to avoid me. I started laughing at some point and the girls joined in, sitting on the couch and watching us fool around. I leaped on Carlos's back at some point and he put the phone in his pocket to steady me on his back so I wouldn't fall down.

"Give me the phone!" I said threateningly.

"Never!" he yelled and dumped me on the loveseat we were sitting before. "I'm not deleting the photo. Ever"

"Carlos, don't be ridiculous" I tried real hard to stop laughing.

"I'm not!" he smiled.

He finally let me sit up straight and fix my clothes. I was breathless from running and laughing so hard. Maria was watching me with a smile and she gave me the thumbs up. I collapsed against the cushions, just as Athena decided she didn't get enough photos already and started snapping photos of all of us. I ducked for cover behind Carlos as she turned the lens of the camera towards us.

"You _really _don't like being in photos, do you?" he asked, holding me still for Athena to manage to snap a photo of me.

"Not when I'm a mess!" I said, ducking for cover again.

"Well, you're not a mess, so stand still so we can have a nice photo together" he said and put his arm around me.

I smiled at the camera and put my arm around his waist. Then he took his photo and told Athena to snap another photo of the two of us. I told him it wasn't necessary, but he didn't listen. Then he took his phone… and _posted the photo on twitter_. Then he took a photo of the rest of the room and _posted that one too_ with the caption "Having loads of fun after concert". I rolled my eyes but decided not to comment on it.

At around two in the morning, we were all getting a little too drowsy. James was lying on the couch with his head on Maria's lap and she was playing with his hair. Logan and Anna were cuddled in the loveseat next to Kendall and Athena who were holding hands discreetly and leaning against each other. I was lying against Carlos and he was twirling my fringe around his finger lazily.

"Guys, it's getting late" I called out. "We should probably head home"

The girls were looking at me as if I was crazy. Maybe I was. Just a bit. But, seriously, it _was_ getting late and we had an early morning for a photo-shoot for _Glitter_ magazine tomorrow. And at this rate we were going to end up falling asleep in the boys' dressing room. And no offence, but I preferred my double bed in my apartment.

"How did you guys come here?" Kendall asked, sitting up a bit straighter.

"We called a cab. But I think it's too late for that now" Anna sighed. "But Neni's right we should probably go home"

"We'll take you" James yawned and stood up, taking Maria's hand. "See you guys later"

"See ya" we called after them, before saying our goodnights and departing.

While my apartment wasn't far from the studio and could've easily carpooled with Kendall and Athena, I went with Carlos instead, not wanting to disturb our little love birds. The car seat was a bit too comfortable and it was only making me sleepier. I woke up when we got in front of my apartment building. Carlos insisted that he had to walk me inside, to ensure that I got home already. He walked with me to my door and when I turned to say goodnight, I kissed him on the cheek.

He stared at me dumbfounded for a moment. I winked before closing the door and leaning against it, before going to the bathroom to wash off any remains of my makeup. I was in a bubble all the while, thinking back to the concert and the two hours we spent in the dressing rooms with our boys afterwards. I logged into twitter before going to bed and saw the comments below the photos about how lucky we were and a few wondering _who_ we were exactly.

I sighed and closed my laptop, texting the girls while slipping beneath the covers of the bed. Maria texted me ten minutes later to say that James was a perfect gentleman and she spent ten more minutes in saying how perfect he was. Athena didn't answer and I assumed she was either in bed or still with Kendall, or maybe both. I _really_ didn't need the image. Anna didn't answer either so I left it like that, knowing that tomorrow I would get all the answers.


	3. Going Out Tonight

_Cuz I've been right there  
For every minute  
This time is no different  
Whatever happens you should know  
You're not alone, girl  
Look over your shoulder  
You don't have to wonder_

About four days after the epic Big Time Rush concert and a week after the photo-shoot that brought them in our lives, Athena finally decided to break the news to us that we were going on tour. With Big Time Rush. As in their personal stylists and photographers and assistants and whatever. I stood there, frozen, while Maria and Anna danced around the room singing "Elevate" at the top of their lungs. And then my phone started playing _Superstar_ in the room where the makeup and hair stuff were in. Dancing to the beat, I retrieved it from its case inside my purse and checked to see who was calling me so late. It was already eight!

_Carlos Pena is calling you_. The words bleeped on my phone screen, above a photo of him, and I slid the cover open to answer it, of course after I'd stopped inwardly fangirling. I took a deep breath, before bringing it to my ear.

"Hello?" I said tentatively, chewing slightly on my lower lip.

"_Hey. Um, it's Carlos, but I guess you already know that. I'm just calling to let you know that your friend, Athena, signed the deal about you coming on tour with us"_

"Yeah, well, she kind of told us herself. I'm pretty sure you can hear the commotion they're making all the way down to wherever you are" I laughed as they screamed even louder, making me cringe at the loud noise.

"_Now that you mentioned it, I think we can hear you all the way to the elevator"_

"What on earth are you talking about?" I mumbled, walking back to the still fangirling girls in the middle of our studio.

"_Get the girls to calm down a bit. We're taking you out to celebrate_"

I laughed and hung up, before whistling loudly to get the girls' attention. Their heads snapped towards me and they all wore identical confused expressions on their faces. It took me four words to get them rushing over to the nearest mirror to check their clothes, makeup and hair.

"The boys are coming" I announced happily and danced to the closet to get my purse.

I found Anna changing quickly from jeans to a fashionable beige cashmere sweater dress with a V neckline and a pair of black leggings. I rolled my eyes and fixed my spiky short hair quickly in the mirror, before grabbing a black leather jacket from its hanger and slipping it on, before running to fix my makeup in front of the mirror too. I had just enough time to fix my smudged eyeliner. The doorbell rang a few minutes later and since I was the first to finish freshening up, I went to answer it.

"Hello boys" I smiled, letting them in.

James, Kendall and Logan hugged me and said hello, but Carlos stayed a little bit behind, smiling shyly when he saw me standing there. Athena came bouncing in the room and jumped on Kendall, who, thankfully, had reflexes fast enough to catch her instead of both of them tumbling down on the floor. Anna hugged Logan and James took Maria's hug. I shook my head and went back in my room to get my stuff before heading out. Carlos followed me, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Just give me a sec, Los, and I'll be right there" I said, walking in the room and getting my scarf to wrap around my neck.

I walked back out, holding my purse and pecked his cheek as I went. He stared after me for a moment before following me back to the main area of the studio where everyone was waiting. Maria gave me a pointed look when she saw us coming.

"Shall we?" Anna said and linked her arm through Logan's.

They were the first to go through the door, followed by Maria and James who were holding hands and Kendall with his arm around Athena. I and Carlos walked behind them, slightly awkward, but not uncomfortably so. At a point, he slipped his hand in mine and linked our fingers. We got in the elevator, chatting happily away about nothing at all, discussing music and the upcoming tour.

Apparently, we were going all over the USA, then Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and then we'd fly off to Canada and from Canada we'd go to England, travel across UK and then proceed all over Europe before going to Australia and New Zealand. We'd be touring all year, as it seemed. We discussed details over dinner in a restaurant the boys chose. As it turned out, the tour bus was big enough to accommodate the four of us too, so we didn't have to travel on our own. It seemed the boys were uncomfortable with the idea.

"The night is still young. How about we go clubbing?" was James's next brilliant idea.

"We're not dressed to go to a club" Anna said worriedly, fidgeting with the sleeve of her dress. "How about you give us the address and the name of the club and we'll meet you there later?"

"Sounds good to me" I said quickly, fidgeting in my jeans slightly too.

Kendall gave Athena the details and then they drove us back to our apartments so we could get ready. I took my time, showering and drying my hair and fixing them in their usual spiky style with the straight fringe going down to my jaw. I did my eyes smoky with dark green over a beige base color, with black cat liner and lots of coats of mascara. A little bit of blush and my favorite reddish pink lipstick and I was done with makeup. I slipped on my favorite green mini dress with a halter top and my favorite golden heels. Add to the mix a golden clutch bag and I was ready to go.

I texted Maria on my way that I'd pick her up in five minutes and she said that I didn't need to because James was picking her up. I shrugged my shoulders and got in my Jeep, speeding off towards the address Athena gave me to put in the GPS. It was a rather crowded club, but they were all waiting for me to get inside. Maria and Athena were both wearing little black dresses, only Athena's was really tight, as if it was drawn on her and strapless and Maria's was a one-shoulder with a tight bodice and a loose skirt that hit a little above her knees. Both were wearing peep-toe black stilettos. Maria's hair was straightened and Athena had pulled them back in a loose ponytail. Anna wore a strapless blue dress with a bow around her waist and black platform heels, with her hair pulled back and curled. I'm sure that the boys would have a full day keeping other guys off them.

Carlos's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw me, but so did mine when I saw _who_ was with him. His girlfriend. She gave me the once-over, checking me from the top of my head to my heels. A bit of my confidence whooshed away when I saw her in a tight shiny black Prada number, size zero no doubt and the most gorgeous Manolo strap heels I've ever seen. Her blond hair was straightened and fell down to her waist.

I just gave her the brush off, just as she raised her nose in the air with a huff, and linked my arm through Marias to get in the club. She gave me a sad look and I just shrugged my shoulders, heading straight to the bar, while the others went to get us a booth. I smiled at the barman, who winked in a flirty manner, and got a shot of tequila before heading to the dance floor to find the girls. We danced together for a couple of songs, before finding a partner and continuing on our own.

I started dancing with a really cute guy; tall, blond and lean, with sparkling grey eyes. I put my arms around his neck and he put his around my waist, swaying to the beat. Hey, at least he could move. But then, Christina Aguilera's _"Your body"_ came up and the beat got definitely faster. I moved away from him, before he had the chance to step on my toes since he obviously wasn't a fan of fast tempos, and found another one, this time tall and dark and he obviously had a thing for fast songs.

_Hey boy, I don't need to know where you've been  
All I need to know is you and no need for talking  
Hey boy, so don't even tell me your name  
All I need to know is whose place and let's get walking  
All I wanna do is love your body, oh, oh, oh, oh  
Tonight's your lucky night, I know you want it, oh, oh, oh, oh_

I caught Athena and Maria watching me worriedly, from where they were standing. I spotted them dancing with Kendall and James and Anna and Logan were also somewhere around there. I saw a flicker of blond and saw Carlos dancing with _her_ too. I ditched my partner and made my way to the bar, asking for a Washington Apple instead of my usual tequila.

"Hey" suddenly Carlos was on my right.

"Hey" my voice sounded a little huskier by now. "Where'd you leave your girlfriend?"

"She was tired and she went to sit down. Her shoes are killing her" he shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal. "And besides, she didn't feel like dancing anymore. She's on her phone too"

Maybe to him it wasn't a big deal, at all. I allowed myself to hope that maybe he didn't really care where she was, but I'd have to deal with the fact that he was probably madly in love with her. I sighed softly and downed my drink in no time, ordering another one right after.

"Aren't you driving afterwards?" he asked, eyeing my glass worriedly.

"Why are you suddenly so worried about it?" I mumbled, sipping it slowly. "I'll be fine. I have a high tolerance for alcohol for some reason"

And with that, I left him standing. I danced with a couple more guys for the next two hour or so, occasionally being stolen away by Athena, Anna or Maria for a girls' spin on the dance floor. At some point we all ended up right in the middle, right as the music started to fade into something slower and the couples started coming on the dance floor. I took it as my cue to leave, especially when James pulled Maria definitely closer and kissed her cheek. I went back to our booth to get my clutch and found Carlos sitting alone, sipping a beer.

_Take your sweet, sweet time  
And I will be here when you change your mind  
Take your sweet, sweet time  
And I will be here for you baby, anytime  
I will never stand in your way  
Wherever your heart may lead you  
I will love you the same  
And I will be your comfort every day  
Do you hear the words I say?_

"Leaving already?" he asked, seeing me reach over to my seat and pick up my purse.

"Yeah, when couples start over flooding the dance floor and sappy romantic songs start to play, I leave" I tried to joke a bit, but he didn't seem amused.

"None of your dance partners catch your eye?" I thought I heard a bit of jealousy in his tone, but it could've been just wishful thinking or my imagination.

"None of them was really my type. And I don't get cozy with the first guy I dance with" I bit out sharply. "And where's your girlfriend anyway? Shouldn't you two be on the dance floor with the rest of them?"

"She left to go home. Apparently this was boring because her friends weren't around" he rolled his eyes and took a huge gulp of beer.

"Wow, she _sure_ sounds independent!" I muttered sarcastically, dawning one last shot of tequila. "Does she even have _alone time_?"

"I've never seen her alone. She's always with someone" he shrugged his shoulders.

And here I was thinking that guys didn't really like clingy and needy girls. I rolled my eyes and was about to leave when he reached out and gripped my waist. I frowned at him when he took my bag and dumped it on his seat before he pulled me back on the dance floor.

"How about a dance before you leave?" he smiled teasingly and tugged me along to where everybody was.

"I really don't think-"

"It's just a dance" he cut me off, still smiling at me as he nudged me forward.

I smiled at Maria from where we stood. James was holding her against him with her head on his shoulder and her arms around his waist. They were swaying to the music, smiling up at each other occasionally. They were so cute together. Anna and Logan were holding hands and dancing. He occasionally spun her around in a twirl. Kendall and Athena had just left, claiming they were tired and wanted to go home and sleep. Yeah, sure, like any of us believed them. Those two were obviously crazy about each other. I wouldn't be surprised if they announced they were dating a few days later.

Carlos pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around my waist. Tentatively, I put my hands on his shoulders and let him lead as we danced slowly with the beat. The song was slow. I tried to remember the title, but before I could put my finger on it, the DJ changed it. So, I decided to relax and enjoy dancing with him without getting too carried away. Hopefully.

_I know where you hide alone in your car  
Know all of the things that make you who you are  
I know that goodbye means nothing at all  
Comes back and makes me catch her every time she falls  
Tap on my window, knock on my door  
I want to make you feel beautiful  
I don't mind spending every day  
Out in your corner in the pouring rain  
Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile  
And she will be loved_

I watched the couples around me. James had leaned down and kissed Maria right there in front of everyone and Logan had taken Anna and went back to the booth. Most couples started leaving a few minutes later, until only we and a couple others were left. It must've been nearing three or four in the morning or so.

"I think I should head home" I pulled back, suddenly feeling a bit lightheaded.

"Yeah, me too" he said with a half-smile. "Want me to drive you?"

"I brought my car" I said quickly, walking with him over to our booth. "So there's really no need for it"

He shrugged. He handed me my clutch and slipped on his jacket while I said goodbye to Anna, Logan, Maria and James. I texted Athena quickly to let her know that we were leaving the club and we'd see her later. Carlos insisted on walking me to my car, just to make sure I got there safely. There were a lot of drunken people around. I unlocked the Jeep and turned around to say goodbye to him. He was way too close, just a breath away from me.

"So, um, goodnight" he said awkwardly, shoving his hands in his pockets again.

"Yeah, goodnight" I smiled and kissed his cheek before jumping in the driver's seat and starting the engine.

He stepped away from the car and waved as I backed out of the parking spot. I waved back and continued on my way, glancing back at him through the rearview mirror to see him staring after the car, before walking to his own. I sighed and rubbed my eyes for a moment before gripping the steering wheel with both hands.

Carlos Pena had a girlfriend. I really thought he liked me, though. Or, at least, I hoped. I turned on the radio and pushed a CD inside, without looking at it to see what it was. _Music Sounds Better Than You _snapped me out of my musings fairly quickly. I had put in the _Elevate _CD by none other than Big Time Rush. Was it too bad that I knew _exactly _which part he sang and that it was my favorite part of the entire song?


	4. Baby Stay With Me Tonight

FINALLY! We were leaving for tour tomorrow, first thing in the morning. We spent an entire day packing our things, filling suitcases with not only our clothes, shoes and whatnot, but also with all our makeup things, hair products and irons, four huge suitcases with clothes for the shows for which we had spent four hours shopping the Men's department of the entire Mall to get them the best outfits to rock their concerts.

As it turned out, we'd get a super gigantic Tour bus that was enough for the eight of us. We'd sleep in hotels in each town, of course, but we'd travel by bus. It was equipped with four, two-bed rooms, two bathrooms, giant TV and Playstation3, lots of DVDs and video games, the best stereo alive with a space to hook your IPod in and lots of CDs. A kitchenette filled with all sorts of candy and snacks, plus ice cream and coca cola. The beds were big and comfy, each coming with a dark blue duvet and lots of fluffy pillows. The wardrobes were in the back and it's where the clothes would be stored, if we weren't using them in the concert.

I had gotten a sac-voyage that I would fill every night before the concert with all the hair products and whatnot that I'd need to get them ready and their outfits would be placed in garment bags that Anna had packed. Maria and Athena were supposed to shoot videos and take lots of photos of the performances, so they'd mingle with the crowd while I and Anna would stay backstage, just in case we'd be needed for anything. It was meant to be an awesome tour.

Tonight, we were going to celebrate it. There was a Cypriot and Greek Night in a pub down town and we were taking the boys with us, since we were invited and all. I had just gotten dressed for it, in a short toga-style golden dress and my favorite brown heeled sandals, my hair all natural with just my fringe straightened and natural makeup with toffee-flavored lip gloss, dangling golden earrings and my favorite golden clutch. I tried to look nice because _she_ was going to be there and I needed to keep my nerve and confidence around her. Just to be polite, Athena told Carlos that he could bring his girlfriend too, even though neither of us liked her really. Still, I was under the impression that she was going to be there with her boyfriend. That is, until I heard him talking to her on the phone as I went to put away the last suitcase in the wardrobe as a favor to Anna.

"It's not that I don't want to go to that darn party with you, it's that you're not giving my friends a chance. You always want us to hang around _your_ group of friends!" I heard him exclaim loudly from the hallway as I turned to leave. "You know what; I knew you were close with your friends and it was one of the reasons why I liked you so much. But you can't expect me to ditch _my_ friends on the night before we leave for tour. Neni and the girls are taking us all out to celebrate"

There was a long pause, during which I held my breath and tried not to make any sound that could give away that I had overheard his conversation with his girlfriend. I dreaded to see him mad at me for that reason.

"That's completely beside the point. I'm loyal and you know that!"

"You know what? This isn't working out. I tried sorting things out the easy way, but I'm just tired of fighting. I think this tour will be good on both of us. We need the space"

"Yeah, that's _exactly_ what I'm saying. I don't think I deserve someone like you"

There was the thud of a phone falling against wooden surface and then a heavy sigh. I walked tentatively forward and peeked into the room he was supposed to share with James on the tour. He had his back turned to the door.

"Is everything alright?" I asked quietly.

He turned around and looked at me. He seemed tired and worn, as if he hadn't slept in days. I took a few more steps inside the room and cocked my head to the side waiting for him to say something. He just stared at me blankly for a few more minutes, before sighing again and looking away.

"I think I might've just broken up" he muttered, wiping his hand over his face.

"I'm sorry" I said quietly, though I didn't quite mean it.

"The funny part is; I don't think I am. I mean, I should probably feel something, I mean, hurt, anger or whatever. But I'm more… _relieved_ I think" he said with a slightly confused expression. "It's not that I didn't like her; we just didn't click that much you know?"

"I think I do. Are you alright for coming with us tonight? Because if you'd like some time to yourself; I'm sure everyone would understand" I offered, smiling hesitantly.

"No. _I'm gonna, I'm gonna dance hard, laugh more, turn the music up now_" he sang with a bright wide smile.

"_Party like a rock star! Can I get a what now? I swear I'll do anything that I have to till I forget about you!_" I continued the song with a smile of my own. "That's the spirit. Now come on; we need to get going if we don't want them to send out a search party for us"

As we walked out, he took my hand and led me to his car, refusing to let me take mine. I gave him directions and in half an hour we were in front of the pub that the party was going to be. The scent of meat on the grill filled our nostrils and the place was practically jumping with loud Greek folk music. I smiled big at the people we passed saying "Γεια σου" to a lot of them I recognized from seeing them around the city. (Gia sou, means 'hello' in Greek)I led Carlos to the table where everyone else was already sitting and waiting for us.

The girls looked stunning in their toga-like dresses. They were much like mine, only Athena and Anna's was strapless and in green and blue and Maria's was a one-shoulder in red.

I sat down next to Maria and opposite of Carlos, who was sitting next to James. Anna had already ordered for all of us and we chatted excitedly about the tour that was starting tomorrow and the performances. We had wine brought over to our table, along with ouzo and zivania, traditional Greek drinks. I think zivania might've been a little too strong on Carlos because he seemed to be getting drunk a little too fast.

Athena and Maria dragged me and Anna to the dance floor, leaving the boys behind to talk. That didn't mean they weren't watching us. James stared down any guy that dared get a little too close to Maria and I laughed when Anna pointed it out. But Logan and Kendall weren't any different, though they weren't as intense. I found myself looking back at Carlos, wondering if he was feeling alright. He looked a bit off and he kept drinking. However, he followed the guys when they stood to dance with us. By now we had all formed a circle and were dancing traditional Cypriot dances. The fell into step next to us easily; I guess that's what you get for being a professional dancer and singer.

It was a lot of fun. We kept the wine and zivania coming, dancing and laughing with a bunch of Greeks and Cypriots that happened to live in Los Angeles, talking in both English and Greek. At some point, Anna turned to Logan and told him something in Greek, confused for a second, and he stared at her blankly until she realized what she did and re-said it in English. We almost rolled on the floor laughing at that little "Oops" she said.

Carlos started stumbling a lot after a little, though, and I wondered briefly about how drunk he really was. It worried me, especially when he stumbled dangerously close to the table. James reached over and steadied him on his feet. Kendall was about to take him back to the table and probably take him back home, but I offered to do it. Athena would be terribly disappointed if he had to leave because of that.

"Are you sure?" he asked, torn between taking one of his best friends home and staying with the girl he was so into. "Because I can do it if you want to stay a little bit more"

"Nah, I was going to head home anyway. Take care of the girls" I smiled reassuringly at him and went to get Carlos.

His eyes were slightly glazed; however he smiled goofily when he saw me coming to him. I took his hand and smiled, tugging him along with me. I got my purse from the table, waved the girls goodnight and left. I took the keys from him when he tried to get in the driver's seat and gently guided him the other way. He slumped in his seat like a child and even pouted. I tried hard not to laugh, but it was such an adorable face. I turned the key and the engine came to life with a purr. I sped off towards his house, fully intending on getting him to drink some bitter coffee and then get him to bed.

However, it turned out to be a very difficult task the last part. I got him in his kitchen after locking the door behind me and started the coffee maker, adding no sugar on anything. I handed him the cup and he grimaced, complaining about the taste. I told him he wasn't going anywhere until he finished it all. He acted like a kid, crossing his arms and turning his back to the table. I walked across, my heels clicking loudly on the tile floor and turned him back around, acting like a child myself.

"Drink it up, now" I order, giving him a gentle hit upside the head. "And _maybe_ tomorrow you'll end up with just a mild headache"

"It's icky. I don't want it" he whined, making a face at his cup.

"Carlos" I said warningly. "Drink it"

He mumbled something I didn't quite catch and, while holding his breath, downed the whole thing. I stared at him open wide. He made a face like he was about to gag and I chuckled nervously. He slumped against his seat and pushed the mug away. I took it and put it in the sink for the maid to wash later on.

"You know what's really _stupid_?" he asked suddenly. "That I was happy before we walked in that stupid photo studio. I mean, I had my friends, a really hot girlfriend, was organizing yet another tour and I thought everything was great"

"Carlos, I think we should get you in bed" I said timidly, taking his arm and leading him gently to his bedroom.

"And then suddenly, poof! Everything goes to hell. James, Kendall and Logan are suddenly in love, texting your friends all the time and asking them out and they get to kiss them and hang out with them all they want and go out and stuff and the thing is that I actually want to tag along when they ask me to because I know that you're going to be there too" he continued on rambling and my heart skipped a beat. "And I see them with the girls; how happy they are. And they get that stupid goofy smile on their face and James just _can't shut up about _Maria, Kendall is all 'Athena this, Athena that, she's so great' and Logan's holed up in his room half the time, working on a song he's writing about Anna and the other half of his time is talking about her. I thought I was that happy too, but you just had to walk in and ruin my beautiful illusion, didn't you?"

"Carlos, you're drunk. You don't know what you're saying" I insisted, pushing the door open.

"I know what I'm saying!" he slurred.

I ignored him the best I could, despite the tears that stung my eyes. I pulled his jacket off and started unbuttoning his shirt, throwing him a pajama t-shirt that said _I Love My Bed_ on it. He slipped it on while watching me fumble around in his room, folding his discarded clothes and putting them away. He wore his pajama bottoms while my back was turned to him and I took his jeans and laid them down on the chair.

I didn't know what to say to him. He'd had a lot to drink; he can't possibly know what he was saying to me right now. He was still standing in front of his bed, watching me with half-glazed eyes and he was slightly swaying. With a gentle push from me, he fell back against the mattress.

"I think you should get some sleep. We need to get up early tomorrow" I reminded him, turning around to leave.

"Where are you going? You came here with _my_ car remember?" his hand gripped my wrist tightly; almost painfully so.

Shit I had almost forgotten all about that. I could call a taxi, except it was a little bit late. I could text one of the girls, but they were probably busy. The other solution was to walk home, but my apartment was on the other side of town…

"Stay here for the night and we'll wake up early so I can drive you home in the morning" he said earnestly, looking straight in my eyes.

"I don't know" I bit my lip. "What will the others think?"

"Does it really matter? I mean, if you want, we can say that it's nothing and it was just two friends spending the night together" he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"I have _nothing_ to change into" I said, motioning to my dress and heels.

"I'll give you something of mine to wear for now" he smiled, knowing fully well he won.

He went to get me a pair of sweatpants and a jersey to wear to bed while I went in the bathroom to wash my face and text Maria that I was spending the night with Carlos and I'd see them in the morning.

**Behave ;) –Maria**

I shook my head at her reply. Of course her mind would go _there,_ but truth is that I didn't think there was something like that between me and Carlos right now. For the time being, that is. I wanted to change that while we were on tour because, if I was being honest with myself, I think I might be falling for him.

_You too :P –Neni_

I texted her back quickly. From what Carlos had told me, James would probably take her home himself and probably keep her company too. I'd get all the details tomorrow, as always. The same thing applied to Athena and Anna.

I took off my earrings and washed the eye shadows, mascara, eye liner and lipstick from my face until it was squeaky clean. I messed up my hair a bit and brushed my teeth with a spare toothbrush I found in the bathroom cabinet. Leaning against the sink, I took off my shoes with a sigh; going on four inches all night could take a toll on your feet.

"Neni?" he knocked on the door before letting himself in. "I found these. I hope they fit"

"I doubt it!" I laughed, unfolding the baggy jersey and holding it against my torso.

It looked ridiculously large. Even on me. The sweatpants were alright, but I had to tighten the string around the waist in order for it _not_ to fall off. I shooed Carlos outside the bathroom and changed quickly, putting my things in my clutch.

"Okay, so where do I sleep?" I asked, walking out barefoot and holding my shoes on one hand.

"Right here" he patted the empty space on the bed beside him.

"I don't think that's such a good idea" I said in a small voice, nibbling on my lower lip.

"Why? We're not doing anything…" he trailed off with yet another shrug of his shoulders.

"Fine" I sighed and sat on the soft mattress. "You on twitter so late?"

"Well, yeah. Gotta keep my fans updated right?" he smiled and continued typing for a bit before clicking 'tweet'.

I leaned over to see what he had just posted. _Had an amazing night out with friends, obviously the only people who are worth something in my life._ I smiled a bit. He wanted to post a photo of the both of us right now.

"No! Like I need any more reason for your girlfriend to hate me!" I exclaimed, moving away from the laptop-and him!

"Oh, come on. It's to prove my point that I'm with friends" he said, standing up on the other side of the bed.

"Uh, no, everyone will get the wrong idea. I'm in _your_ clothes, remember?" I pointed out the obvious.

It was hard not to notice that it was his. It was too big for any girl to have, not to mention that he had worn that in the show countless times.

"You could've bought that anywhere!" he moved slowly closer, like a predator towards me.

"Still, the answer is no" my voice quivered as I tried not to laugh nervously.

He lunged for me and I squealed, scrambling on the bed and then the other side. He jumped up like a monkey and lunged for me again, tackling me to the ground. I fell on the carpet, laughing with my hair all over my face and Carlos holding me down. I blew my fringe back and looked up at him.

"I win" he exclaimed, like a kid and smiled.

"Fine. But just _one_ photo and it doesn't go online unless _I _approve it. And then we have to sleep because we have to get up early tomorrow, remember?" I reminded him.

He nodded excitedly and helped me up, maybe a little too forcibly. I collided with his chest and we fell against the bed. We started laughing again and I hid my face in the crook of his neck. I didn't notice he had already snapped a photo of us like that until it was too late. He said it was just for him and it wasn't going online. I nodded and got up, still trying not to laugh.

We lay down on our bellies on the bed and in front of the laptop. He set up his computer camera and we turned towards it and smiled. The photo was nice, nothing that could tip off that we were more than friends. I sighed and he took a few minutes to post it both on Instagram and Twitter with the caption _Had an amazing time. Going on tour tomorrow. Goodnight!_

I yawned and stretched on the mattress, before pulling off the covers and climbing inside. I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling drowsily. Carlos turned off the lights and climbed in bed too. Everything was silent for a bit and I let sleep overtake me. But not before I noticed him roll on his side and face me. I smiled a bit to myself and fell asleep quickly.


	5. First touch, first kiss

_Baby show me by the way you hold me  
Way that you control me; speed me up or slow me  
Oh when I'm lonely, full of stormy weather, can you make it better?  
I heard what you told me!_

Week 3 on Tour and we're just leaving New York. The concert was _amazing_! Sold out arena and magazines paid a lot for just _one_ of Athena's photos; things were going great. The guys went to a lot of interviews and played in a lot of radio stations; it was a miracle we still had new outfits to dress them in. Luckily Anna was able to steal a few hours and go shopping while we were in NYC.

But I have to say that this whole thing is starting to grate on my nerves. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in nearly three weeks; blame travelling for that, plus all the couples around making me feel a bit lonely most of the time. Kendall and Athena were the first to come out of the closet with their relationship, just a few days after we were away from LA. They asked Kendall about her in an interview and being the lovesick guy that he was, he admitted just how much he loved her and that they've been together secretly since their concert in LA. Anna and Logan went next, after one of their dates in a fancy restaurant where Logan gave her a bouquet of roses in front of a whole army of paparazzi, a week later and Maria and James a few days ago; on their third official date, after a fan asked James if she was his girlfriend. Of course he said she was and the next thing we know; it's all over twitter, photos of them are swarming Instagram and, of course, all Rushers are being supportive, as always. They've all been inseperatable since. They spent nearly _all_ their free time together, leaving me and Carlos to our own accord.

Like, now, Maria told me that she wanted to have James in our room tonight to spend some quality time with her boyfriend so I offered to take the couch. I grabbed blankets and a couple pillows before settling in front of the TV. I couldn't sleep and the film I was watching wasn't helping either; who the hell plays _Fast and Furious _so late at night? I sighed and went to the kitchen, looking for something to nibble on; probably some of that amazingly delicious white chocolate I bought just before we left, if there was any left.

I had the music playing quietly as I fumbled around in the cabinet, piling the bags of chocolate on the counter, searching for a specific one. There were so many things in there; Mars, Twinkies, Twix, Toblerone. How did the guys expect all eight of us to eat so much chocolate in the short time we were in the tour bus? We'd have a sugar rush!

_Drop everything now  
Meet me in the pouring rain  
Kiss me on the sidewalk  
Take away the pain  
Cuz I see sparks fly  
Whenever you smile_

"What are you still doing up?" Carlos's voice behind me startled me and caused me to drop a package of Lucky Charms on the tour bus floor.

Every tiny little piece fell out of the box, creating a huge mess. I bent down to pick them up the same time he did and we bumped into each other, falling backwards and on our butts. We were so ridiculous; it was impossible not to laugh. We cleaned up the mess together, giggling like little children.

"You never did answer my question" he pointed out as I turned back to getting my chocolate, which had ended up in the top shelf of the cabinet; the only one I hadn't searched in yet.

"I was kind of kicked out of my room" I joked, finally finding the package I was looking for hidden behind a stash of Twix. "I gave it up to Maria and James. What are _you_ still doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep and then I heard the TV playing. I didn't take you for a _Fast and Furious_ girl, by the way" he nudged me out of the way and reached up to grab the chocolate I couldn't reach.

"I'm not" I smiled, taking it from him and tearing it open. "Want some?"

"Sure" he said and stole nearly three quarters of it.

I rolled my eyes and went back to the couch. I expected him to sit in one of the other two free couches, but he sat right next to me. I couldn't curl the way I wanted to with him on the other side of the couch, so to make amends for him taking my chocolate from me, I swapped to the side he was in and leaned against him, wrapped in a pillow. He jumped a bit and turned to look at me. I smiled innocently before turning back to the TV. He was warm.

I thought I heard him mutter something but then I changed the channel and the loud music drowned out whatever other sound. Step Up 4: Revolution was playing and I settled against him to watch it. It was the part where Sean sees Emily dancing in front of the three mirrors and they have that argument about breaking the rules and such. I always found that part somewhat romantic since it's obvious that he's into her but she's trying to play hard to get. And then when he invites her to the Art Gallery for their next Mob… I just love that part. I sighed and snuggled further against Carlos and the back of the couch.

"What are you guys still doing up?" Logan's voice made us both turn around and look at him.

Both he and Anna looked slightly disheveled. She had her hair in a messy ponytail and she was wearing one of his blue and white checkered button-down shirts over a pair of grey pajama bottoms, matching with his grey sweatpants and blue t-shirt. His hair was a mess. I tried to stop myself from laughing, but failed miserably.

"Neni and I couldn't sleep" Carlos explaine quickly to them, slapping one hand over my mouth to stop my laughter. "How come you two are up? Where are Kendall and Athena?"

He had them busted there. They stammered that they had no idea and they couldn't sleep either. They rushed to the kitchen, saying something about needing a snack and I turned and buried my face in Carlos's neck, trying to hold my laughter in. He had no qualms about laughing loudly as our friends retreated in the kitchenette.

They came back out two minutes later, holding two buckets of buttery popcorn and two bottles of coca cola. Anna draped a blanket over the two of them as she snuggled against Logan to watch the movies. It was quiet for a bit, until Kendall and Athena decided to grace us with their presence. They, too, looked disheveled; Athena's hair was a mess of disarrayed curls and she had pulled them back in a braid to tame them, but it was no use. She was wearing Kendall's hockey jersey that had his name and number on the back over her pajama bottoms and he was in just sweats and a t-shirt, like Logan.

They brought in more snacks for all of us, not bothering to make up excuses for themselves. I never expected them to, either way. Athena was never one to explain things to anyone and Kendall just left it there. They settled in the couch on my right and cuddled together beneath a blanket and we sat to watch the movie, munching on M&Ms, popcorn, chocolate and Ben&Jerry's ice cream. We had gotten to the part where Sean and Emily were talking about her dad and Eddy overhears their conversation and gets all mad. That's when James and Maria finally emerged.

"We were wondering when you two would come out of there" I informed them with a sly smile, tossing them a few blankets. "Have a seat, love birds"

They exchanged a smile before laying the blankets down on the floor in front of the TV. James pulled Maria against him as he leaned against the couch, a few inches away from me and Carlos. They were so cute, especially when he kissed her temple before settling. I could watch those two all day. They were like those cliché couples you see on teenage romance movies; the kind of couple you expect to see married right after they're out of High School.

Logan and Anna were curled around each other on the couch, with a blanket draped over the two of them and discreetly holding hands. They commented quietly to one another every now and then, but they were really silent. He'd lean in and kiss her once in a while and they'd spend a lot of moments staring in each other's eyes.

Kendall and Athena were the ones with the most physical relationship. They hardly could keep their hands off of each other. She was curled up against his side, holding his hand and her head was against his shoulder. He had his free arm wrapped around her waist and they'd kiss occasionally throughout the movie.

"Wanna put something else on?" Carlos asked suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Let's put _Enchanted_ in!" I exclaimed excitedly, leaping off the couch to go find the DVD. "I _love_ that movie! It's so much fun!"

I put it in and hit _Play_ before resuming my place next to Carlos. Only he wouldn't let me concentrate in the movie. It's a good thing I've watched it before. At first, he started twirling my fringe around his fingers, toying with the ends. Then, he just wouldn't stay still. He kept squirming ever so slightly that I always fell off him. I thought he didn't want me to lean against him, but when I went to pull away, he had pulled me back against him, with his arm around my waist and wouldn't let me move. I went to eat a piece of popcorn and he stole it right out of my fingers, popping it in his mouth and then smiling innocently at me.

"Are you planning on not letting me eat anything?" I whispered, taking another one from his bucket.

He went to steal that one too, but I got to it first, throwing it in my mouth with a satisfied smile. We turned to watch the movie for a bit, until we got to the ball part, where they dance to that really sweet waltz. I think the song's called _So Close _or something. I got so engaged in the melancholic melody that I leaned my head against Carlos's shoulder. Then there was the final battle scene, where the princess has to fight the dragon and save her prince (bizarre, yes, I know) and we were all completely silent. And then it was the happy ending, where the girl gets the guy and they live in his apartment with his baby girl.

The lights were about to come up when I turned to look at Carlos. He had the strangest serious expression I had ever seen on his face and he was staring at me intensely. I don't remember who made the first move, but then there was no space between our lips and _Carlos Pena of Big Time Rush was kissing me_. I couldn't believe it. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his went tightly around my waist and did a little happy dance in my head. There was no sensation that could ever compare to this.

"OH MY GOD!"

"THEY KISSED"

"OOOOOOOOO, CARLOS AND NENI SITTING ON A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

"YAY! NOW THERE'S FOUR COUPLES"

"OOOOOOOOO THEY KISSED"

"CARLOS KISSED NENI"

"NENI IS KISSING CARLITOS"

"OOO THEY'RE KISSING"

We pulled apart after being unceremoniously interrupted by our friends, who had jumped out of their seats, movie and snacks long forgotten, and started cheering for me and Carlos, while at the same time doing a stupid little dance, screaming "Oh Yeah". I felt my cheeks flush scarlet and I hid my face in his neck, smiling against his skin as his cheeks blazed red just like mine.

Maria and the girls had jumped up and turned on the music as loud as it would go and started singing along to _Elevate._ The guys, minus Carlos, who was still holding me tightly against him, jumped up and joined them, twirling them around the room. We stared at them like they were insane for a bit, before shrugging and joining them. Besides, they were crazy and we loved them either way. Carlos picked me up and twirled me around in circles, before setting me down and kissing me again. He left me breathless.

"And now you're mine and you're not allowed out of my sight for the rest of your life!" he stated seriously before twirling me around again and again and again until I fell against him dizzily. "_Eres mi sol y yo nunca te dejare ir_"

"I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded beautiful. Either way you're not allowed away from me for longer than two seconds for as long as my heart beats" I whispered, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Είσαι δικός μου και δεν με νοιάζει για τίποτα άλλο" (You're mine and I don't care about anything else)

"Well, I have no idea what you said, either, so I guess we're even" he smiled, kissing my nose lightly. "All I know is that I'm in love with you"

"Me too" I said, snuggling against his chest.

He hugged me tightly, nearly smothering me. We settled back in the couch to watch the other three couples dance around in the choreography of _Show Me_, putting up a show for us. I felt tiredness creep up on me and I suggested that we go get some sleep before we arrived in our next destination. James and Maria bounced happily back to our room, Kendall and Athena took Athena and Anna's room and Logan and Anna took Kendall and Logan's room. Which left us in Carlos's and James's room.

We both logged into our twitter accounts before we called it a night, though. I sat on James's bed with my laptop, going through my timeline and retweeting random Rushers' tweets. Then, I snapped a quick photo of the messy living room of the tour bus and posted it with the caption _Look what a mess we made! We are so crazy. It was a great night. #RusherOut Goodnight everyone._ Seconds later I saw a retweet by TheCarlosPena.

I smiled at him from over my computer screen and clicked on his profile to check what he had posted. It was a photo of me, I realized, holding the laptop and working on it from earlier today with the caption _Looks like someone's getting really busy_. I rolled my eyes and checked the rest. He mostly tweeted about New York and how much of an amazing crowd they were. And then there was a retweet from Maria's account which was… a photo of the two of us looking at each other on the couch, seconds before we kissed, with the caption _Look at our two love birds. _I was so gonna kill her tomorrow.

I clicked on it to see the comments below. Some were asking who I was. Others were saying things like "That should be me" or even "I'm so happy for Carlos. But what's her name? We should make them a pair name". Carlos read them from over my shoulder, before kissing my cheek and taking the laptop. He shut it down and put it back in its case, before picking me up and dumping me unceremoniously on his bed.

"Hey! I kind of liked James's bed!" I teased playfully.

"Well, too bad, because you're not allowed in anyone else's bed!" he winked with a wide grin.

I took the side near the wall and climbed beneath the covers. Carlos turned off the lights, before joining me in the bed. He wrapped his arms around me and I snuggled against him. I stared ahead of me for a few minutes, too lost in my own thoughts to care about anything else. Carlos had kissed me. He said that he's in love with me. He said I'm not allowed out of his sight for the rest of my life. And he was mine.

I sighed contently and closed my eyes, falling asleep despite his light snoring. Still, he was in my dreams for the rest of the night.


	6. You're the only one that rocks my world

"Carlos give that back!" I yelled, chasing after him through the dressing room. "Come on! I need it to fix James's hair!"

"Come and get it!" he stood up on the couch and held it far up above my head, smiling like a little kid.

I jumped and stretched as high as I could, trying to get the blow drier; the _only_ blow drier we had with us right now. And James was sitting in his chair, waiting for me to go fix his bed hair. In case you're wondering; his hair was a mess because he spent the entire day sleeping after doing God knows what the night _before_ their last concert in America. We were currently in Rio, Brazil and the crowd was so loud outside that they'd need earplugs to go on stage. After that we'd be leaving for London for the European part of the Tour.

And _Carlos had stolen my blow drier_ and he _wouldn't. Give. It. back!_ I stopped trying to catch him and sighed, feeling a bit frustrated. I turned my back to him, ready to give it up. He'd give it back to me when he got tired of playing games. The tricky part would be to finish James's hair in the last fifteen minutes remaining before the show.

Logan and Anna were leaning against the wall, holding hands and talking quietly. He was wearing one of the outfits she picked; a pair of grey jeans and a white t-shirt beneath and a black leather vest. Kendall and Athena were snapping shots of the rest of us with her camera, turning it into a game about who will shoot the best. I watched them play around for a little and then turned to James sitting on the chair, waiting patiently, and Maria standing over him and talking to him about something.

Suddenly, I found myself with my back against Carlos's chest and I turned my head towards him almost automatically. He kissed my temple softly as an apology for the earlier stunt. He knew I was always stressed out before the concerts and he was just trying to get me to lighten up. I understood that. I smiled softly at him and closed my eyes, leaning back against him. The flash of the camera made me open them and glare playfully at Kendall who had just snapped a photo of us.

I took the blow drier and shooed Maria away playfully, getting to work with her boyfriend's hair. I styled them the way he usually had them, spraying them with a ton of hairspray, but I already knew that they'd be a mess after the show either way. It didn't matter. Fans loved it when they got a bit mussed, but not when they were a tangled mess. I gave him the okay to leave and finally collapsed on the couch next to Carlos, with six minutes to spare.

I curled myself against his side and he wrapped his arm around me almost automatically, drawing me closer to him. We had gotten so close over the last few weeks. It was hard for both of us to be apart since.

"Since it's our last night in the USA, why don't you and Anna join the girls in the crowd tonight?" Carlos said suddenly.

"Won't you need us? I mean, maybe I have to fix something on you or you might need something to change into if the clothes rip-"

"I'd like you to be in the crowd" he cut me off. "I need to see you in front of me while I perform. It makes me give everything I have"

He said such things all the time and they never failed to make my heart melt each and every single one. As for being in the crowd tonight… I wasn't sure. Every now and then a fan or two would recognize Athena and Maria and stop them to talk to them. Not all were nice and I don't know how I'd react if someone was less than kind to me or the girls. I had a short temper I was quite famous for. But since Carlos asked…

"I'll need to get changed" I muttered and got up. "See you up there"

I rushed in the wardrobe and pulled one of his t-shirts from the hangers. It a purple one; the color I loved most on him and the one he told me made him crazy when he saw it on me. I threw my button down somewhere on the floor and pulled it over my jeans. It was sort of baggy on me, falling down to the middle of my thigh. I fluffed my hair in front of the mirror and started applying my makeup in front of the mirror next to James and Maria.

"I don't get why you put that on your face" Carlos stood next to me as I grabbed the eyeliner.

"It makes me look pretty" I replied, smiling inwardly.

We'd had that argument before. He watched me put on makeup all the time and each and every time he'd say that he didn't get why I used it. He thought I was beautiful as the natural me and the _gooey stuff I put over my face_ got in the way, he said. I just thought he was sweet. However, he grabbed my wrist as I went to apply it.

"Can you not? Just for tonight?" he said, pulling me close to him by the waist. "I want to be able to look at your face properly tonight"

"Getting a little sentimental and romantic are we?" I said quietly, nibbling on my lip.

"Only with you" he said with a smile, just as they called that they had two minutes to get ready. "Go mingle with the crowd. I bet I'll find you wherever you are, but I want you front row. Okay?"

I nodded and turned to leave, but not before he managed to steal another kiss from me. I smiled and turned to wait for the others. James had pulled Maria in a lip lock that didn't look like it would end anytime soon and Athena and Kendall were playfully bumping each other, but in the end, he just grabbed her by the waist and gave her a kiss. She sighed as he let her go, with a huge grin on her face. I turned to Anna and Logan. He was holding her by the waist close to him, with his forehead against his.

"The first song will be for you" I heard Logan say to her. "I love you"

"Love you too" Anna said with a smile, right before he kissed her. "I'll see you right after the show"

I smiled and linked my arm through hers and Athena linked hers through Maria's, who had finally pulled away from James long enough to walk the few steps towards us. We said our goodbyes and walked through the corridors until we got to the door that led to the arena.

To say it was packed would be an understandment. We had a difficult time getting to our places, until security helped us through. Screaming fans were everywhere, wearing t-shirts that read _I LOVE BTR_ or their favorite band member's name, their wrists full of colorful bracelets that were Big Time Rush related, holding up banners stating their love for the group. It was such an amicable climate; everybody was grinning ear-to-ear, hugging each other. Rushers were always more like a family than a fan base. I loved that about them, _us_.

We were right at the foot of the stage, with a full-view of what was going on it. Everything was dark and then we saw movement. Everybody started quieting down, to the point that if a pin fell, we'd be able to hear it. My heart was beating hard against my ribcage in anticipation. And then the lights went up and there was the strumming of a guitar before James started singing.

_I don't know why you always get so insecure  
I wish you could see what I see when you're looking in the mirror  
And why won't you believe me if I say that to me you get more beautiful every day  
When you're looking at the magazines and thinking that you'll never measure up; you're wrong_

Logan was the one closer to the outer part of the stage and his eyes never wavered from Anna's. I smiled and turned to look at Carlos, who was also staring right back at me. I smiled and started dancing along with the others, doing a twirl occasionally. The song faded to _All over again_ and then everything started escalading to the last song of the concert, which was _Elevate_. At least, I thought it was the last song.

"_And now" _Kendall said when the music died out. _"We'd like to dedicate a song to our girlfriends. It's a cover, actually. You might know it. Feel free to sing along!"_

And then James turned sharply towards me and started the song, dancing around, but always turning his eyes towards Maria to see if she was watching him. And then the world froze for me at the second verse when Carlos knelt down exactly in front of me and sang, staring straight into my eyes.

_Like the clouds you sweep me away, far away  
And like the sun you brighten my day, you brighten my day, yeah  
I never wanna see you cry, cry, cry and I never wanna tell a lie, lie, lie  
Said I never wanna see you cry, cry, cry and I never wanna tell a lie, lie, lie_

I've told him before of this song. He knew I loved it. I smiled despite the tears that welled up in my eyes, because no one had ever done something so sweet for me. I swayed with Maria to the beat, grinning widely. But the real highlight of the evening was Logan leaping out of the stage and kissing Anna in front of everyone. The fans went wild, cheering at the top of their lungs. And then Logan jumped back on the stage with the guys to say goodnight, leaving a very breathless Anna behind him.

We started giggling like crazy as the arena started emptying slowly. However, we didn't stick around for long. We started running back, pushing through the crowd and occasionally responding to a "goodnight we love you" by some Rushers. But our minds were set on the four gorgeous and very talented romantic boys who had just given us a night to remember.

I ran straight up to him and jumped on him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. He caught me, but I hit him with so much force that we fell backwards. I barely registered giggles around me before his lips found mine. I kissed him with everything I had, trying to pour all my emotions into that one single kiss that I wished could never end.

"Thank you!" I whispered when we had finally pulled back. "You have no idea how much that meant to me"

"I love you" he said simply, before cutting whatever I was about to say with another kiss.

"Me too" I said between kisses, holding him tighter.

An awkward clearing of throat behind us made us jump apart and look at an awkward-looking manager. James and Maria were against the wall, kissing, Kendall and Athena were kissing and holding each other so tightly that you couldn't tell whose hands were whose and Logan and Anna were making out on the couch. I couldn't help my laughter and I hid my face in the crook of Carlos's neck in embarrassment.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you all have a flight to catch, I think" he stated awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, um, right" Maria said in embarrassment with her cheeks flushing scarlet.

We were absolutely ridiculous. I started laughing even harder and soon everybody had joined in. I went to the dressing rooms and started gathering my things with the help of Carlos. I couldn't stop smiling at him and neither could he. I packed everything away and closed the sac voyage. He didn't let me carry it, saying it was too heavy. He handed it to one of the assistants and told him to carry it to the car where our suitcases were waiting and helped me put my backpack over my shoulder.

"Tonight was beautiful" I said as he took my hand, leading me outside. "I've never had so much fun in my life. This is second only to Venezuela"

"I know" he smiled. "Just wait 'till you see what we have planned for the last concert of the tour in New Zealand"

"And I suppose that you're not giving me not even a small hint?" I said with wide eyes, pouting.

"No" he said, laughing.

I grumbled as we got in the car, just the two of us for the first time. I cuddled against his side, after I'd buckled my seatbelt, and the car started. It was quiet for a bit, until we got to the airport. He held my hand the whole time. A mob of fans was waiting to see Big Time Rush and the flashes of the camera went wild around us and I wished I had my jacket with me, just so I could hide my face under the hood. Carlos wasn't that shy. He smiled and said that _Wazza? _That had become his trademark. Girls screamed everywhere around us. He laughed and kissed the top of my head as we walked inside, dragging our personal suitcases behind us.

Maria and James were already in the check-in line for the first class clients and Logan and Anna were waiting for them at the side. Athena and Kendall were at the front of the line when we got in behind them. There weren't many first class clients for Rio to London tonight. It was pretty late too, around midnight I think. I was too buzzed to feel tired anyway.

Carlos did the check in for both of us, loading our suitcases. Neither exceeded 20kg. Then he took my hand and led me to the others. Half an hour later we had boarded the plane and were sitting back in our seats. I took the one next to the window and looked down at the bright lights of the city. I leaned against the soft leather and looked outside during the takeoff, not noticing when Carlos snapped a photo of me with his cellphone.

"Really? Again? I think your fans are getting tired of seeing my face all over your twitter" I said, going to take his phone.

"I think they're all tired of not knowing more than your name" he laughed and held the phone away from my reach. "Besides, I love looking at all those comments about how _adorable_ you look"

"Not all of them say that!" I protested.

"I don't care. To me; you're _perfect_" he said softly before leaning down to kiss me one more time.

He did post it on Twitter _and_ on Instagram, with the caption _Rio was a blast. Sad to be leaving Brazil, but we have a date in London. Love the fans, goodnight_. And then he yawned and slumped against his seat. I told him to get some sleep. He leaned over to my side and fell asleep with his face towards me. I smiled.

"Tonight was perfect" Maria whispered from the other side of the corridor, loud enough not to disturb anyone else.

"I couldn't agree more" Anna whispered with a sigh from the seat in front of Maria.

"Did they tell you about a surprise in New Zealand?" Athena whispered, leaning across her seat to be able to talk to us. "It's the perfect time to talk now that they're all asleep"

"We don't get much girl time do we?" I teased quietly. "We're all busy with our boyfriends"

"Yeah, but we love each other no matter what" Maria smiled. "But I can't wait until we get back home. I bet our families are waiting to meet our boyfriends, finally"

"I already know how mine are going to react" I snorted, rolling my eyes. "I'm sure yours are going to be happy about you either way, just like mine"

"I know. But it makes me nervous" Anna admitted quietly, smiling awkwardly. "Doesn't it make you nervous too?"

"A bit" I and Maria said at the same time.

"I'm not!" Athena beamed. "However they react, it won't affect me much. I have Kendall and that's all I need now"

I smiled.

"Well, if you put it that way I don't need anything other than James" Maria said with a sigh and a look towards him. "He's perfect for me"

"Carlos is perfect for me too" I admitted quietly, gazing at my boyfriend. "He's so funny. He cares about me, like I care about him"

"Logan is amazing" Anna sighed. "I swear, I've never felt like this before"

We all sighed at the same time before giggling quietly. We weren't much different from our sixteen/eighteen year old selves. Stuck with Big Time Rush forever. I leaned against my seat again, after whispering goodnight to the girls and looked out the window at the blackness of the night. It would take us one entire day to get to London. I had one day on the plane with Carlos, the boys and my best friends. And a whole World Tour to endure with them. Life couldn't get any better right now…

I think!


	7. Ever fallen in love?

Countries started blurring after London. Edinburgh, Dublin, Berlin, Paris… each concert seemed the same and we were all getting tired. The boys wouldn't let it show, of course. They had to keep up their appearances for their fans. The only country that sort of broke the monotony of the European Tour was Cyprus, but that was only memorable because they met our families. They loved our boyfriends of course, but they didn't like that we were so far away from home. That was just it. Then we left, bearing about a billion gifts from them and leaving behind just as many; souvenirs from each country we had visited before. Then we set off to Egypt and from there we went to Asia. Philippines, China, India… we went everywhere. I doubt there was anyone that's been all over the world like we had.

We arrived in New Zealand late at night and went to bed almost immediately in the hotel we had booked. I was so exhausted from the plane ride that I collapsed on the bed and fell asleep immediately, only to wake up a few hours later from the heat. Carlos was snoring, face-down on the mattress. I got up and went for a shower before turning up the AC and falling back asleep next to him. I felt boneless.

Then the stupid alarm clock started ringing after what seemed like two seconds of sleep. I punched it off the bedside table to make it shut up and buried my face in the pillow again. I barely registered a chuckle next to me before I felt Carlos's weight on my right side. His arm went around me and he was just so _warm_. I turned to my side and let him cuddle me for a bit before getting up with a sigh.

"Oh, come on!" he complained and sat up. "Five more minutes?"

"If you stay five more minutes, you're gonna end up staying for five more hours!" I giggled, grabbing my clothes to change. "Get up, _chico_"

He grabbed the worn grey t-shirt I had picked out and threw it back in my suitcase before replacing it with one he had custom-made for me. It was purple and had my lucky number 19 on the back in white with my name. I shot him a confused look before going to the bathroom for a quick shower before we had to head out. He showered as I did my hair and applied my makeup for the day; just something natural since we'd have to head out to the arena for the rehearsals for tonight. It would only take three or four hours and then they'd have the rest of the day to relax before the show tonight.

There were a lot of surprises we actually _knew_ about for tonight. A 10 minute long video with the best moments of the tour, photos and _One Heart/A million voices_ playing as background music while the photos show. Covers of _Our Time Now _by Plain White T's, _I gotta feeling _by Black Eyed Peas and _The Way She Moves_ by Zion featuring Akon. The last one was my favorite because Carlos would be singing in _Spanish!_ (Meow!) And they'd pull 4 girls from the crowd up for Worldwide _and_ Invisible this time, somewhere in the middle of the show. Jordin Sparks would make an appearance to sing _Count on you_ with them and so would IYAZ for _if I ruled the world_.

And they still wouldn't tell us a single thing about the surprise they had in store for the four of us. Which was nerve-wracking to say the least, because we had no idea when they'd do it; during the show? Before? After? And _what_ would they do? The anticipation was killing all four of us.

"Ready to head down for breakfast?" Carlos emerged from the shower dressed in jeans and the purple jersey I had custom made for him in Cyprus with his name and lucky number on the back.

I smiled. He made us match today. That was so unbelievably sweet!

"Yeah, sure" I threw my lip gloss in my makeup bag and went to get my backpack and sac voyage since we'd be leaving straight after breakfast.

He took the sac voyage from me and helped me adjust the strap of my backpack. I grabbed his jockey cap as I went and put it on sideways; the black one that said LA on it in black and white. He took my hand as we walked to the elevator, meeting up with Athena and Kendall as we went. I let go of Carlos's hand long enough to give her a hug before he pulled me back to him, tucking me against his side snugly. It was as if he couldn't be away from me for a few seconds!

James and Maria were already sitting at a table when we arrived. Anna and Logan were standing in line for the buffet and we were quick to join them, right after we dumped our bags in our seats. The boys carried our plates, refusing to let us do a single thing by ourselves. It was _almost_ frustrating. But sweet at the same time. I put pancakes with Nutella for me and Carlos in our plates and even added a few strawberries in mine.

We had breakfast quickly, cleaning up our plates as fast as we could before we had to take off. Two cars were waiting outside to take us to the arena. The drive was quick, thankfully, and there wasn't much traffic. We got there with a few minutes to spare for the boys and they took that time to help us set up for tonight. Anna and Logan disappeared in the dressing rooms to set up the outfits, Athena and Kendall went for a walk to look at various places from where she could shoot great photos, James took Maria for a tour on the stage and Carlos stayed with me to help me set up my things for tonight.

"You'll be in the crowd tonight again, okay?" he said after we were done.

"Is that somehow related with our surprise?" I asked, sitting on the table. "Because that somewhat narrows down on what it is"

"I'm not giving anything away" he settled next to me, his arm running the length of mine. "I just want you to be there for the last concert"

"Then, I will. Thanks for letting me know, though. I'll need the time to get ready" I kissed his cheek lightly, leaning against him.

"You know that to me you're beautiful any way, right?" he kissed my temple softly before wrapping his arm around me. "But, either way, I want to spoil you a bit. I have something for you"

I sat up as he leaped off the table and went for _my_ backpack. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to remember if he had put something in it. I couldn't. And he was going through the front pocket, where I usually kept my brushes. Strange. He pulled out a black rectangle box and held it out to me shyly. I took it and opened the lid curiously.

Inside was the most _beautiful _pendant necklace I had ever seen. It was a small silver heart with an arrow going through it hanging from a delicate silver chain. But that wasn't the best part yet. The initials _C.P. _+ _N.C._ were engraved on it and painted over with purple. I touched it with my fingertips, speechless. I felt tears well up in my eyes.

"Thank you" I smiled, finally looking up at Carlos. "You have no idea how precious this is to me"

"Want me to put it on you?" he grinned like a little kid and gently took the chain and clasped it around my neck.

The heart fell in the hollow of my throat. I touched it again, just so I could feel it there. It was so light! And beautiful… I turned around and wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. His arms went around my waist just as tightly and for a second there, I thought that we wouldn't let each other go any time soon. But a throat clearing and giggles somewhere behind me, made us jump apart and smile shyly at our friends who were standing in the doorway, watching us.

"So _sorry_ to interrupt" Anna said, smiling teasingly. "But we girls have an entire day to ourselves and we need to let the guys get ready for tonight without any _distractions_"

I giggled and kissed Carlos lightly, before grabbing my backpack and skipping over to the girls. I waved my goodbye and linked my arm through Athena's as we walked back to where a car was waiting for us. It was one of the gifts for today; the guys were sending us off shopping. We refused to let them pay, of course. They had given us a lot of presents during the tour; it wasn't fair to let them pay for everything.

We piled in the car, chatting away about tonight's show. Personally, I was more excited about _finally_ being able to show off my makeup skills on _Jordin Sparks_ who just happened to be one of my favorite female artists ever! I was inwardly fangirling about it. The girls were talking about the photos Athena could shoot and _of course_ about our surprise from the guys.

"Logan gave me this" Anna held up her wrist proudly.

It was a silver cuff bracelet. _Whatever our souls are made of, yours and mine are the same. L.H.+A.I._ And a small heart next to the engravings. It was so endearing… and so _Logan_! She traced the bracelet, much like I was doing to my necklace.

"Kendall gave me a bracelet, too. But it's nothing like that" Athena giggled and held up her own wrist.

I almost laughed. It was a silver charm bracelet with ten small charms hanging from the chain. A rose, a K, a heart, an A, a camera, a microphone, a note, a bus, a boy and a girl; delicate silver charms. They dinged happily when she moved her hand, like wind chimes.

"James gave me this" Maria tugged at a chain that was hidden under her blouse.

It was a heart-shaped pendant that opened. Inside were two photos of them together, in black and white. It was so beautiful. It seemed that our boys had been thinking about us a lot, lately. I showed the girls my small beautiful necklace and they smiled at it.

"I can't wait for tonight" I sighed. "The Tour is coming to an end. What will happen afterwards?"

"I don't know. And just thinking about it makes me doubtful" Maria admitted as we got out of the car in front of a mall. "What if, when we go back to LA, they decide that maybe they want something else?"

"I don't think so" Athena stated confidently. "We've been nearly all over the world. They've seen about a billion pretty girls. But they stayed with us and didn't even make an implication that they'll be breaking up with us any time soon"

She dragged us off to the first store, determined to lighten up our moods. She threw various outfits at us, even a few ridiculous ones, just to get us distracted with the clothes and shoes and accessories. Anna was silent as we went through each outfit. Suddenly, Anna threw something silky and green at me and it hit me straight in the face. I picked it up and held it over my body. It was a dress; a really pretty dress. It was strapless, tight on the chest area and then flowing down to the middle of my thigh loosely.

I smiled and went to try it, along with a couple more outfits Athena threw at me. We ended up leaving the store with more bags than we could carry and that had only been one store. It's been a while since the last time we'd had a girls' day all to ourselves to do trivial things like shop or go get a Toffee Nut Latte from a nearby Starbucks.

Giggling like crazy, we made our way to various other stores, sometimes buying something and sometimes leaving empty-handed. In an _Accessorize_ we had a lot of fun trying out all the head accessorizes. Anna bought one of those headbands that went around your head; a black one with a peacock feather on the right side. It looked cute on her. Athena bought a headband that had a black veil and a small black hat attached to it, while I went for a dark grey Gatsby hat with silver lining. I pulled it over my head as we walked outside with our purchases.

We stopped to grab a bite at a nearby T.G.I. Friday's. It's been a while since the last time we've been to one and we had a lot of fun snapping photos with Athena's camera in there. Eating didn't take long and before we knew it, we were back outside, strolling along the hallway holding at least twenty bags each. Oh, well. Athena's phone started ringing at some point and then we had to head back to meet with the guys.

Carlos arms are around me as soon as I step out of the car. He swirls me around once, twice, three times before setting me down and _finally_ kissing me. The flash of a camera behind a mail box makes us snap apart quickly and rush back inside. I can already imagine the headlines in the magazines; _Pop star Carlos Pena has tender moments with girlfriend in New Zealand_. Great.

"Damn, they're swarming the entrance" Kendall commented, looking out the window. "Well, there goes our way out of here for the rest of the day"

"Not so much" James smiled. "They still haven't found the back entrance"

We exchanged a look, a few seconds before grabbing our things and running. It was exhilarating; somewhat at least. We raced through the corridors, by-passing a few employees that happened to be hanging around. The back entrance showed us to an alley and we raced through it and into the cars that were waiting for us, after a quick call from Logan. Laughing, we told the drivers to take us back to the hotel. Thankfully, no paparazzi followed us.

"Come on, let's go to the pool!" Carlos said and dragged me along.

Just a bit before we hit the edge, I tried to stop.

"Wait! I don't have a-" SPLASH!

The water was cold and it was dragging me down fast. I barely registered one more splash somewhere to my right before I felt two arms wrap around me and haul me to the surface along. I shook my hair, my hat floating a few inches away from me. And then I started laughing. Carlos hugged me, laughing as well. We were wet. We were in the middle of a hotel pool and everybody was staring at us as if we were retarded. I heard our friends laugh somewhere behind me and turned to look at them.

Kendall and Athena came to sit at the edge, dipping their feet in the water, while Logan, Anna, James and Maria went to lie down on the sunbeds around the pool. I wrap my arms around Carlos's neck and we float around for a while, just holding each other.

"The water won't ruin my necklace, will it?" I ask, suddenly anxious as my fingers sought out the small heart against the hollow of my neck.

"No, no, don't worry" he said, kissing the side of my neck lightly.

"That tickles" I giggled and moved away.

Smiling, he buried his face in the crook of my neck and nuzzled it. The friction from his stubble tickled me and I tried to move backwards to avoid it. I was terribly ticklish and he knew it very well. That's why he was doing it. He told me countless times it was one of the things he loved about me.

"Nope, you're not getting away that fast!" he said dramatically, wrapping his arms around me tighter. "You're mine"

"I know I am" I turned and kissed his cheek lightly.

He led us both to the edge and lifted me up on the edge so that I was sitting and he was still in the water. I looked around me to see that it was just us and our friends; everybody else had left. James and Maria were listening to music quietly; in fact it seemed that she had fallen asleep against him with one ear bud in her ear. James was staring off into space and twirling a strand of her hair around his finger.

Kendall and Athena were on the other side of the pool, swinging their feet in the water and talking. At some point, he told her something that made her laugh and then push him in the water. He hit the surface with a loud SPLASH, throwing water droplets everywhere. Athena giggled delighted, even when he grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her towards him in the water. She shrieked when she realized just how cold it was and clung on him tightly, giggling the whole while.

Logan and Anna were lounging on a sunbed, lying side by side, with his arm running the length of hers. They were looking at each other in the eyes, not talking at all. Just staring at each other intently. His fingers entwined with hers tightly.

"What are you thinking about?" Carlos asked, leaning his head against my knee.

"How lucky we are" I responded, tracing my finger over his cheek. "How lucky we are to have found you guys actually"

"Trust me, _we_ are the lucky ones" he pushed himself up so he was sitting right next to me. "I honestly haven't seen James so at ease in his entire life. And Logan? All he talks about is Anna; all he thinks about is Anna. He can't concentrate on a concert if she's not there for him to see whenever he turns around. And Kendall; he's finally having fun in his life instead of over-thinking everything. He's letting loose"

I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. He took my hand in his and gave a gentle squeeze.

"And I've never been so happy in my life" he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine. "With you, I can have both my best friends and the perfect girl. Because you're perfect for me in every way"

"I had a crush on you even before we met" I admitted with a giggle. "I was your biggest fan ever. Still am. And tonight, you're gonna rock that stage and give the best performance ever"

"As long as you're right across from me, as long as I can see your smile" he whispered, kissing my temple softly.

"Speaking of performance, we really should dry up and get going" I sighed heavily and looked around. "And _we_ have to get ready for the surprise you boys have been planning for tonight"

"Alright" he said, a bit reluctantly.

I got up and got the girls. Together, we got in the elevator and headed upstairs while the guys grouped up to get ready to go to the arena. We'd be there to get them ready and then we'd go get our spots. Tonight was gonna be the night of our lives.


	8. I promise you

"So how are we going to do this?" Jordin asked with a smile.

"Just close your eyes. It's sort of a surprise" I said, picking up the foundation brush from my belt.

I applied even amounts of foundation across her face, starting from the middle and working outwards. I had almost forgotten what it's like to work on someone else's face instead of your own. It's like painting. I got started on her lids, cutting the crease with black and applying a pretty sparkling bronze across the eye ball and then adding some champagne colored eyeshadow over her brow bone and in the inner corners. I created a cat-eye on both her lids with black liquid eyeliner and applied lots of falsies mascara. I loved what the bronze did to her eyes. I applied some glittering gold liner across her lower lash line, below the lashes to accent the black of the mascara. Minimal peach blush on her cheeks and lip gloss and she was ready to go.

"Oh, my, it's almost as beautiful as yours!" she beamed at her reflection.

"Thank you" I giggled.

"Well, I think I have to go get dressed now" she said and checked her reflection one more time, touching the beautiful curls of her hair once before tossing them over her shoulder and heading to the dressing room.

I sighed and started sorting through my things quickly. We had exactly half an hour before the show and just enough time for us to meet up and go get our spots. Brushes were easy to clean and put away. I had just closed the sac voyage when Carlos decided to come up behind me and kiss me senseless. For a second, I forgot all about the pink lipstick I had on and the style I had done my hair in and kissed him back just as passionately as he was kissing me. But then, I remembered everything and pulled back, only to see that he had pink all over his chin and mouth.

I started giggling uncontrollably. I took a Kleenex with makeup remover and wiped every trace of my lipstick from his face. It was messing up the handsome image of my boyfriend in faded jeans, white button down shirt and black leather jacket, topped with an LA cap. He was so adorable. I cleaned up my face again and started reapplying my lipstick.

"So I'd like to give you my surprise before we start the show" Carlos started, looking a bit shy. "It comes in three parts actually"

"Alright" I turned around slowly and leaned against the vanity table.

He pulled out two boxes from my backpack and a small square one. My heart started beating louder and louder in my chest; so hard that I thought it was going to leap out of my chest and into his hands. He handed me the first box and I opened it with shaky hands. Inside was a rather large photo album. I cast him a hesitant look before opening the first page and reading the inscription.

_Hopefully, this is where we'll put many photos of us in the future. For now, I've added my favorites. _

I turned the first page and found four photos in black and white being held to place by little metallic thingies. The first one was from the first concert in LA, when we were the Worldwide girls. It was just me and Carlos looking straight into each other's eyes as he sang for me. The second one was one of the photos Kendall and Athena had snapped when we were in Rio; the one when I was leaning back against him with my eyes closed. The third was one of all of us in Venezuela, a little after the concert. We girls were in dresses and the guys were wearing button-down shirts and slacks. They had taken us salsa dancing that night and this particular photo, with Logan leaning his head on Anna's shoulder, Kendall holding a laughing Athena bridal style, James hugging Maria tightly from behind and Carlos doing me that bend-over maneuver people usually do in tango. And the last one was the first serious one we had ever taken and it was to show off my brand new tattoo; a beautiful, _beautiful _lotus flower on my shoulder blade. I was leaning against Carlos's side and we were both looking down at my shoulder. It was beautiful work; made by Athena.

Each photo had an inscription in careful silver letters. I expected it to be the dates, places and the names of the people in the photo, but it was lyrics. _Worldwide_ for the first one, _Beautiful _by Akon, Kardinall Official and Colby O'Donis, the part he had sang back in Rio, _Addicted to you_ by Shakira for the third and _Beneath your beautiful_ by Labrinth and Emeli Sande.

"This is beautiful" I whispered, closing the album and finally looking up at him.

"Part two?" the second box wasn't big like the first one; it was a rectangle box; long, yes, but thin too.

I opened it with shaking hands. It was a key hanging from a keychain that had three hearts dangling from it with our initials. I picked it up, curious as to what it opened. I looked up at Carlos with questioning eyes as I held it up.

"I don't want you to think I'm taking any liberties" he started saying, while scooting a little bit together. "I've given this a lot of thinking and I've even talked about it with the guys. We all feel the same way about you girls. I have to admit that I've never felt anything this strong. It's been just three months; I know that. But it feels like forever. It's like I've known you since ever and it usually takes years for this kind of feelings to build, but I feel them and it's there. So… if you don't think it's an insane idea, I'd like you to move in with me"

I was speechless for a second. Move in. With Carlos. My heart stopped beating momentarily before it started again in a rapid pace. I took his hand in mine and held them both right over the space where my heart was beating, so he could feel exactly how hard it was beating in my chest. He smiled slightly.

"I take it as a yes. And now for the third part" he presented me the small black box.

It couldn't be. Could it? I opened it slowly and peeked inside. It was a ring. A beautiful silver ring with a heart held by two bands of silver and a dark blue diamond right in the middle of it. I blew out a breath I didn't know I was holding in and sighed. It was absolutely divine.

"It's a promise ring" Carlos said quietly. "It's not an engagement ring, because I know your views on the matter. But my promise to you right now is that I will love you and take care of you and one day, I'll replace that ring with another plus a wedding band"

He took my right hand and slipped the ring in my ring finger easily. It was a perfect fit. My left hand sought out the heart around my neck and I touched it lightly, like I did every time he was being so sweet. I just couldn't… I wrapped both arms around his neck and kissed him, not caring anymore if I smudged my makeup or if I got my lipstick all over him. The back of my thighs hit the vanity table behind me as he pressed himself closer to me.

"One more thing; you can't tell the girls until after the show. It would ruin James and Logan's surprise" he murmured before kissing me for a couple more moments.

"What about Kendall and Athena?" I asked, pulling back just a bit.

"You know how she is. She's getting a promise ring too, just so she won't freak out and run away or something" he shrugged and grinned. "You're not running away on me, are you?"

"Of course not, but if I don't want to be late, I have to finish cleaning up and get going" I said, glancing at the clock.

He helped me put the photo album carefully in my backpack and I put the key to his house in my purse. Athena waltzed in just as I was snapping the clasp shut and wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Congratulations!" she whispered and grinned happily.

"Where's yours?" I asked quietly, checking behind her to see if the other girls were coming in.

She lifted up her right hand and showed me a gorgeous ring shaped like a flower, with tiny diamonds going around the petals with a silver band going around her finger. She squealed like a little girl, but quickly stopped when Anna and Maria popped their heads in the doorway to tell us that it was time to get going. The arena was almost full out there and we had to go now if we wanted to get to our places in time.

I linked arms with Athena and waved goodbye to Carlos and the guys. There was no need for wishing them good luck; they'd do amazing and we knew it. With a little help from the security, we managed to make our way through the mass of screaming fans and get to the front. The giant countdown clock on the screen above the stage showed 10 seconds… 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3…2…1! And…

_Elevate a little higher  
Let's throw a party in the sky and celebrate_

Screams erupted everywhere around us and everyone started screaming along to everyone's favorite song. Maria was ecstatic when she saw James looking straight at her as he sang, fangirling even worse than I had ever seen her. We started jumping with the rest of the crowd, screaming and laughing and dancing. Elevate, Big Night, Oh Yeah, Nothing Even Matters, Boyfriend, Blow Your Speakers, Windows Down. Every song was welcomed with even louder screaming, so loud that I thought my ears were going to burst any minute now. And then everything went silent.

"Before we continue on with this little video we put together for all of you" James started talking and was welcomed with a round of loud applause. "I have something to say to the most beautiful girl I've had the luck to meet"

He had walked over to the edge of the stage as he was talking and looked down at Maria, extending his hand to help her on stage. She shot me an almost panicked look, but allowed him to help her climb on. The crowd went wild with cheering. And then James went down on one knee and everyone went silent, too shocked to form any sort of response.

"I know it's only been three months since the day we met, but I want to be the one you wake up to everyday. I want to be the one who will make you smile, who will wipe away your tears when you're sad and who will kick the ass of anyone who ever tries to hurt you" he presented her with an open small black velvet box which was too far away for me to see the ring inside it. "So this is my promise to you; I will be there for you forever, wherever and whenever. One day, a few years down the road I will exchange this ring for the real deal. But for now, I think the promise will suffice"

She had started crying for good now. I touched my hand to my mouth, trying to keep my tears inside. I met Carlos's eyes and he smiled softly. I looked around me to see everyone wearing similar expressions of awed shocked happiness. When James slid the ring on her finger, I almost went deaf with the noise, not that I wasn't screaming too.

Logan turned towards Anna sharply and jumped off the stage to be right in front of her. Everybody went quiet once more, after five minutes of intense cheering. Logan stared right into Anna's eyes and presented her with a white gold ring that had two hearts entwined and a diamond in the middle of each one. She brought her hands up and covered her mouth in awe.

"I think the guys all beat me into saying all of the above. I'd just like to add how much I love you and I will never, ever let you walk out on me" he smiled that cute crooked smile that showed off his dimples and slid the ring on her finger.

"Okay, everyone. We'll get back on the film now" Kendall stated with a beaming smile and all lights went out until the screen was the only thing that showed.

Photos started flashing and small clips from the guys doing stupid funny things while we were on the tour bus. It was a good laugh for everyone. And then they went on with the songs and I think this time the screams were even louder. My feet were quickly falling asleep in my heels, but I didn't care. I even took them off and kept on dancing even when I felt so exhausted I could just collapse on the ground.

By the time the show ended, I was ready to crawl into bed and sleep with my love holding me. Too bad I couldn't actually do that. Our flight was in a few hours and we had to get going. I ran to him in the dressing room and hugged him tightly.

"This was the best show ever" I said, smiling up at him. "Ready to get on a plane and head home tomorrow?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I am" he kissed the top of my head and tightened his hold on me. "We have to move your things, though"

I laughed and pulled back. That's when I realized that I was out of my heels and my dress was beginning to get a bit uncomfortable. I had to change really quick if I wanted us to be at the airport in time. We all went back in the dressing rooms and we shooed the guys away from our room so we could get changed in peace.

"Oh, my God, can this night get _any_ better?" Maria sighed and pulled on her jeans. "I mean; look at us! We're all wearing promise rings!"

"_And _they all promised to change them with a real ring someday" Anna reminded us, while looking dreamily at her ring.

I exchanged a look with Athena. Not that I didn't love Carlos with all my heart because in all honesty I did; but I couldn't ignore the fact that two out of three marriages ended up in a divorce and Hollywood had the record for divorces. Hopefully, Carlos would be a little late on changing my very _lovely_ promise ring for an engagement ring and that engagement would be a long one. I and Athena would be the last ones to get married as it seemed.

"So we're going back to LA. Who else is moving out of her apartment?" Athena changed the subject smoothly with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I got a key"

"Me too!" I held up my ring triumphantly.

"Ditto!" Anna and Maria yelled out.

And with that we all started laughing. I removed most of my makeup when I was done getting dressed and tossed my dress and shoes in my backpack. I'd put them in my suitcase when we got in the airport. I'd pick my jeans and Converse All Stars over dresses and heels any day, anyway. I slung my backpack over my shoulder, got my headphones in one ear, turned on the music and walked outside to meet with Carlos. He took the other ear bud and stuck it in his ear, before he took my hand and the sac voyage like always. I leaned against his side slightly as we walked to the car, looking back at the girls.

James had just told Maria something that made her laugh. He had his arm around her shoulders and holding her backpack and his, not allowing her to carry anything on her own. Logan and Anna were holding hands and walking slightly ahead, discussing something excitedly. I caught some words and phrases, but other than that I couldn't really make sense of what they were saying. Athena and Kendall were fooling around with her camera again, hugging and holding it up to get self-shots or photos of each other as they walked behind all of us.

"What are you thinking about?" Carlos asked, opening the back of the car for me to put my stuff away.

"Nothing in particular" I smiled and put my things in my suitcase. "Just that this was the best night of my life and I'm more than ready to head home now"

"You know, Jordin was asking if you could be her makeup artist in her next tour" he said, attempting to sound nonchalant, but it came out nervously instead.

"I already have a job as Big Time Rush's makeup artist and hair dresser and I don't intend on leaving my post anytime soon" I bumped my hip on his and smiled. "Besides, in case you don't remember, I also have a job as my best friend's makeup artist and hair dresser in a small studio in Los Angeles. I don't want any other jobs for now"

"For now?" he inquired.

"Will you relax?" I laughed and pushed him in the car. "We're going home. Focus on that. I'm not going anywhere"

"For now" he said, giving me the puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, okay. I'm _never_ going anywhere. Better?" I kissed his nose before sitting back down and buckling up.

"Much better" he sighed and leaned back against his seat with a beaming smile.

I shook my head and leaned back too, relaxing completely. One more day and we'd be in LA again. Back to the routine others might say, but I couldn't wait for that routine. Better yet; I couldn't wait to start a routine _with Carlos_! I was giddy with excitement just thinking about it.

We got to the airport in time and checked in quickly before taking a stroll in the Duty-Free shops before we had to go board the plane. I went straight for the makeup section with Athena, sending Kendall and Carlos off to get coffee because they seemed ready to collapse. We had fun, trying on different lipstick colors on our wrists and commenting on what looked better. Purple looked absolutely ridiculous on both of us.

We met up with Anna in the chocolate section and spent a few minutes browsing before Maria and James tagged along, with a drowsy-looking Logan following them. It seemed that we were all a bit tired. I bought a large Toblerone and a packet of Ferrero Roche chocolates to take back home with me. Carlos and Kendall had caught up with us by then and I took Carlos for a tour in the stuffed animals section. We played around with teddy bears, stuffed dogs, cats, tigers… and monkeys. I loved the monkeys. They were so fuzzy and cute!

Logan got Anna a small stuffed puppy; I think it was one of those Beagles. She absolutely adored it and cuddled it the whole way to the gate. James and Anna were carrying bags of chocolates with them, which they stuffed in their backpacks right before we boarded. Athena and Kendall were still busy with taking photos of all of us, trying to spend all the battery in that poor camera. There must've been at least a thousand photos of today in that memory card! And it was still going.

"I'm beat" Carlos sighed and slumped against his seat.

"Go to sleep baby" I said and took his cap off. "When you wake up, we'll be home"

He mumbled something and then his breathing evened out; a sign that he had fallen asleep. The guys were all dead by the time we took off. Athena turned around with a smile, looking tired too.

"Tonight was amazing" Anna sighed from next to me. "I'll remember tonight forever"

"I hope you took a few photos of me and Carlos. Good ones, I mean, not the silly ones" I smiled at Athena. "Carlos gave me a photo album besides the key and the ring. I want to start adding photos in it"

"I wanna start taking photos and putting them up in the house" Maria said. "I'm so ready for living with him"

"Yeah, we know! Remember how we used to be back at High School?" I stretched and yawned. "We loved them ever since"

"Music sounds better with Big Time Rush; remember?" Anna grinned and yawned too.

"We should all get some sleep" Athena interfered, stifling a yawn of her own. "We'll have plenty of time to talk when we get home"

I nodded and leaned back against my seat. A few minutes later, I felt stirring next to me and I opened my eyes to see Carlos pulling up the armrest between our seats. I smiled sleepily at him. He tucked me against his side and pressed the button to call the flight attendant for a blanket. He draped it over both of us before leaning back and falling asleep again.

I turned my head and leaned it against his shoulder, getting comfortable. I had almost forgotten I had my headphones still on and that Carlos was also listening to music as he slept. I took the headphones off both of us carefully not to wake him and put them away before resuming my position. I fell asleep almost immediately.


End file.
